Technology is an irreplaceable part of numerous life spheres, and medicine is not an exception. Electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic health records (EHRs), and others are essential parts of clinical information systems in the United States. For example, the EHR is a continuous record of patient health information that is created by medical professionals. Even though this technology has both advantages and disadvantages, its positive effects outweigh adverse ones, which justifies the further use of EHRs.
To begin with, one should present the advantages of EHR. Firstly, this technology is a popular way to record health information. According to Goldstein et al. (2017), 75.5% of US hospitals used this system in 2014 (p. 198). It is possible to suppose that this number is even higher in 2020. Secondly, EHRs contribute to real-time information sharing among medical professionals (Sewell, 2019). This positive feature leads to the fact that care providers can check the test results as soon as they are completed. That is why Shenoy and Appel (2017) stipulate that this technology facilitate “communication among healthcare professionals” (p. 337). Thirdly, the use of EHRs is said to result in fewer medical errors when it comes to medication prescription (Shenoy & Appel, 2017). Fourthly, electronic records are accessible by patients, meaning that they can review their medications, laboratory results, and other information almost at any time. Finally, the positive factors above contribute to the fact that medical diagnostics is improved, which, in turn, leads to better patient outcomes.
At the same time, EHRs are not free from disadvantages, and the given paragraph will address some of them. Confidentiality issues are the most significant challenges when it comes to the use of EHRs. It relates to the fact that patient records can be accessed by multiple nurses, physicians, and even support staff members (Shenoy & Appel, 2017). As a result, there exists an opportunity that a hospital staff member can access an EHR and generate some gossip. In addition to that, since EHRs are usually web-based, they can be subject to “security breaches from outside the system” (Shenoy & Appel, 2017, p. 338). Consequently, these breaches can result in the fact that patients’ personal information will become publicly available.
As has been mentioned above, the EHR implies both advantages and disadvantages. That is why it is necessary to compare them to define which group is prevailing. Thus, one should emphasize the fact that the positive effects are versatile. It is so because they offer higher convenience to both patients and healthcare providers. Furthermore, they contribute to achieving better patient outcomes, which is the primary goal of the whole healthcare industry. At the same time, adverse phenomena do not refer to the design of EHRs but are caused by the misuse of this technology. For example, gossip is generated by individuals with low moral standards, while information leaks can occur because a physician has lost their laptop with access details.
In conclusion, the paper has demonstrated that the electronic health record is a significant and requested phenomenon in the healthcare industry. Even though this technology implies some disadvantages, their impact is diminished when it comes to many positive features. Thus, one can summarize that the use of electronic health records results in the probability that the US healthcare system will become better and contribute to more positive patient outcomes.
References
Goldstein, B. A., Navar, A. M., Pencina, M. J., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2017). Opportunities and challenges in developing risk prediction models with electronic health records data: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 24(1), 198-208.
Shenoy, A., & Appel, J. M. (2017). Safeguarding confidentiality in electronic health records. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 26(02), 337-341.
Sewell, J. P. (2019). Informatics and nursing: Opportunities and challenges (6th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.