HPW435 Health Care Administration

Answers:

Health Advancement and Promotion

Electronic health record implementation, adoption, optimization and migration path

The acquisition of the electronic health record (EHR) in the clinical settings promises to enhance the medical care across multiple dimensions. For example, it will improve the quality of healthcare while concomitantly decreasing the healthcare cost in the clinical settings (Bowman, 2013). EHR implementation involves the systematic transformation of the physical (paper-based) health record into the electronic health record. EHR implementation is mandated with the objective of accomplishing healthcare needs of the patient population and improving the efficiency of health care revenue cycle with the utilization of information technology. The implementation is also required to enhance the feasibility and quality of medical interventions for the population of all groups and geographical locations (HIT, 2017). EHR implementation is also needed to effectively optimize healthcare administrative processes and maximining clinical workflow and data collection processes with the minimum utilization of manpower. EHR adoption indicates the requirement of effectively integrating the electronic health record in medical facilities while following the stipulations of the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). The medical facilities require evaluating the change resisters, available technical support and concerns and cost implications while stepping ahead to acquire and adopt the electronic health record across the healthcare mainstream (Kruse, Kristof, Jones, Mitchell, & Martinez, 2016). EHR optimization indicates the requirement of effectively customizing the electronic health record in accordance with the individualized requirements of any clinical practice. The optimized EHR systematically assists in the enhancement of the capacity and productivity of the healthcare units. EHR migration path includes the systematic steps that require execution to effectively facilitate the transformation of paper record to the electronic health record. The configuration of the EHR migration path would require the step-by-step development of the following attributes.

1. Medical management system
2. Evaluation and management charting
3. Physician’s order interface
4. Medical decision-making tool
5. Physician-patient interaction interface
6. Protected health record
7. Report generation tools

Electronic Health Record Structure

Electronic health record comprises of the patient management system, clinical elements, radiology/lab attributes and information management system and billing/coding system. The patient management system includes the processes like patient admission, transfer, demographic entry as well as insurance coverage. The clinical elements include the patient evaluation and management recording tools for effectively maintaining the accuracy of the significant patient assessment information. Radiology and lab attributes include the laboratory equipment, computer hardware, MRI/CT modality, patient information transfer network, image reviewing workstations and images/reports storage archives (Arora & Mehta, 2014). The coding/billing system includes the software tools and processes like practice management software and encoder-pro tool for systematically transforming the clinical information to the reimbursement codes.

Workflow Analysis (Department of Internal Medicine)

Workflow redesigning would require checking the entire steps beginning from the patient entry until discharge in the medical facility. The following attributes would require configuration/reassessment while undertaking the process of workflow redesign for the department of internal medicine.

1. The appointment configuration process
2. Front desk configuration
3. Patient documents scanning process
4. Patient’s charting and review process
5. Co-pay management process
6. Evaluation and management systems and tools
7. Patient care logs configuration process
8. Medical coding/billing tools development process
9. Practice management software development process
10. Patient discharge process/protocol

Patient Portals’ Benefits

Patient portals are configured by the effective integration of patients’ institutional electronic health records with the electronic personal health records (Irizarry, Dabbs, & Curran, 2015). They facilitate patient engagement for effectively mitigating cost/quality crisis pattern in the health care system. The patient portals encourage the deployment of customized patient-centric approaches with the objective of enhancing the wellness outcomes of the treated patients. They also facilitate the systematic undertaking of informed decisions while inducing positive health behaviour in the patients as well as their family members.

Patient Portals’ Popularity and Management

Patient portals provide direct patients' access to the customized health information. Eventually, patients remain aware about their health status and regarding any change requirement in their medical management, including treatment and decision-making (Irizarry, Dabbs, & Curran, 2015). The patient portals also prove to be an effective interface for the patients to gain authenticated access into their protected health records at any point in time. Health Informatics professionals require undertaking usability testing of the patient portals for redefining their operational mechanisms in accordance with the emerging healthcare requirements (Irizarry, Dabbs, & Curran, 2015). They also require facilitating the personalization of the patient portals by training the eligible patients for their systematic utilization in the context of attaining the healthcare advantage.

References

Arora, D., & Mehta, Y. (2014). Use of picture archiving and communication system for imaging of radiological films in cardiac surgical intensive care unit. JACP, 447-448. doi:10.4103/0970-9185.137306

Bowman, S. (2013). Impact of Electronic Health Record Systems on Information Integrity: Quality and Safety Implications. Perspectives in Health Information Management. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797550/

HIT. (2017). How to Implement EHRs. Retrieved 08 12, 2017, from https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/ehr-implementation-steps/step-1-assess-your-practice-readiness

Irizarry, T., Dabbs, A. D., & Curran, C. R. (2015). Patient Portals and Patient Engagement: A State of the Science Review. JMIR, 17(6). doi:10.2196/jmir.4255

Kruse, C. S., Kristof, C., Jones, B., Mitchell, E., & Martinez, A. (2016). Barriers to Electronic Health Record Adoption: a Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Medical Systems, 40(12). doi:10.1007/s10916-016-0628-9

Menachemi, N., & Collum, T. H. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 47-55. doi:10.2147/RMHP.S12985