Electronic Health Records and Safety Incidents

Introduction

Health information technology (IT) is receiving more and more interest from scholars who investigate the threats and opportunities presented to the healthcare industry by innovations. The current paper aims to analyze a current and relevant issue related to health IT and outline in what ways this topic may impact practice. The paper includes the explanation of the topic chosen and the rationale for selecting it. Further, the discussion of the positive and negative effect of the theme in practice is suggested. Also, the pros and cons of using health IT are analyzed. Finally, a conclusion is made in which the insights about the key elements are examined, and recommendations for the future are given.

The Topic and The Rationale for Choosing It

One of the most crucial topics discussed in the Fierce Healthcare publications this week is the underestimated concern of electronic health record (HER) safety incidents (Sweeney, 2018). As the author mentions, the problem of patient harm caused by the insufficient usability of EHRs has long been known about, but researchers and specialists have not paid enough attention to its investigation (Sweeney, 2018). The rationale for choosing this theme is that patient safety is one of the most crucial aspects of the healthcare industry. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to eliminate the number of cases involving patient harm due to the incompetent use of health IT. Also, it is necessary to encourage nurses to increase the level of reporting data that may help identify problems. According to Sweeney (2018), the most frequent issues that affect patient safety are concerned with alerting and data entry: approximately 50% of EHR-related cases are associated with these categories. Typically, patient safety events are infamously underreported (Sweeney, 2018). Thus, the risk of adverse outcomes is further increased.

A study by Howe, Adams, Hettinger, and Ratwani (2018) indicates that reports on patient safety incorporate limited data, which leads to the impossibility of establishing causal factors and may be contingent on errors, reporter bias, and the inclination to associate EHRs with the event. Howe et al. (2018) remark that although EHR usability is associated with a small rate of potentially harmful incidents, it is necessary to investigate this topic in order to eradicate such issues altogether. Taking into consideration the depth of analysis of the topic, it may be regarded as a highly significant one.

Arguments of the Topic’s Impact

The chosen theme has a considerable effect on nursing practice. Health IT has been developing rapidly in recent decades, and it is necessary to eliminate the occurrences of adverse events in order to improve the quality of care and increase patient satisfaction. As Jones, Rudin, Perry, and Shekelle (2014) mention in their research, the adoption and development of health IT in the US has been intensified by special programs and publications dedicated to the assessment of this issue. The review performed by Jones et al. (2014) analyzes the evolution of health IT practices in the healthcare industry. Researchers note that publications on health IT frequently lack the revelation of adverse effects. Jones et al. (2014) remark that scholarly papers focused on health IT are numerous, but they do not provide a sufficient amount of useful data. Thus, Jones et al. (2014) suggest that with the wide adoption of health IT, it is necessary to change the focus of research and concentrate on the positive implications of information technology for the healthcare sphere.

In particular, many scholarly papers investigate the positive and negative outcomes of using EHRs at hospitals. In the preparation to the assignment, information skills and knowledge were used to analyze the sources and evaluate the positive and negative effects of EHRs on nursing practice. As a result of the investigation, the following pros of using EHRs in practice have been identified:

1. Electronic health records are much more time-efficient than handwritten ones. As a result of switching from the traditional method of putting down patient data to electronic note-taking, healthcare professionals can save much time and energy that can be used to spend more time caring for their patients.
2. Computerizing records with a certified EHR allows a healthcare specialist to receive the financial incentives provided by Medicaid and Medicare (O’Connor, 2017). Better access to these incentives is explained by the government’s interest in EHRs and their implementation).
3. EHRs create a possibility of activating the patient portal, which is rather helpful in terms of time-saving (O’Connor, 2017). When patients fill out their details in an electronic way rather than making notes, nurses do not have to waste time on deciphering written information and typing it by themselves.
4. EHRs are more accurate and incorporate fewer mistakes. They contain the most relevant information.
5. EHRs provide an opportunity for better information sharing, as well as create the conditions for transparency of data.

However, as practice and research indicate, the expected advantages of EHRs are not always realized. Hence, the following cons of employing EHRs are outlined:

1. Computerizing records takes up much time, especially for those specialists who are not computer-savvy and need to learn much new skills.
2. When using EHRs, there a higher possibility of data insecurity (O’Connor, 2017). Thus, nurses need to spend much time making sure that the data included in records are protected from unauthorized entry.
3. Another aspect associated with data safety is that hackers may hold patient information hostage and demand ransom for releasing it (O’Connor, 2017). When such a situation happens, and patient data is unavailable for some time, there is the potential for slowing down of work. Also, such cases have a high possibility to undermine the reputation of a healthcare establishment.
4. When it takes too much time or too many efforts for healthcare workers to manage the innovations, they may feel stressed and experience burnout (Rosenbaum, 2015). Sometimes, a specialist with many years of experience and excellent knowledge may feel inclined to leave the job because of the inability to cope with alterations.

Conclusion

The paper discusses a relevant theme of healthcare sphere: the use of IT in general and EHRs in particular. The major benefits of implementing information technology in the healthcare industry are associated with efficiency and possibility to improve the system of collecting and storing of data. The limitations of such innovations are concerned with the fact that some healthcare workers lack preparation and skills in using technology. Since the use of IT in healthcare has not been entirely justified yet, it is recommended that more investigations of pros and cons should be made. Researchers need to pay attention to the ways of minimizing the unpleasant outcomes of implementing the change. Such analyses will eventually lead to the elimination of disadvantages and the increase of positive results of using health IT.

References

Howe, J. L., Adams, K. T., Hettinger, A. Z., & Ratwani, R. M. (2018). Electronic health record usability issues and potential contribution to patient harm. JAMA, 319(12), 1276-1278.

Jones, S. S., Rudin, R. S., Perry, T., & Shekelle, P. G. (2014). Health information technology: An updated systematic review with a focus on meaningful use. Annals of Internal Medicine, 160(1), 48-55.

O’Connor, S. (2017). Pros and cons of electronic health records. Advanced Data Systems Corporation. Web.

Rosenbaum, L. (2015). Transitional chaos or enduring harm? The HER and the disruption of medicine. The New England Journal of Medicine, 373(17), 1585-1588.

Sweeney, E. (2018). Conservative estimates of EHR safety incidents belie bigger industry concerns. Fierce Healthcare. Web.