The 21st Century Cures Act is one of the most recent healthcare informatics regulations implemented by the government. This policy’s main objective is to modernize the process of the development of medication by incorporating multiple perspectives, such as nurses’ input and patient case information into the review process. Alexander (2018) argues that this Act aims to leverage precision medicine, or “applying the right treatment to the right patient at the right time” (p. 3). This effect will be achieved by allowing practitioners to access the data collected across the healthcare system.
This Act will affect the new system implementation because nursing professionals will have to make certain that the system is designed to be compatible with other healthcare resources to enable the process of sharing information with practitioners. In general, clinical care should be improved with the adoption of this regulation because more information about the patient and similar cases will be available(“Health IT legislation,” 2019); Stone, 2019).
Possible issues with patient-provider interactions mentioned by Alexander include lack of primary care providers and workflow problems associated with a need to ensure that “nurses must ensure that they practice where their patient is” (p. 3). However, the benefit of this Act to both care providers and workflow is an emphasis on collaboration across different teams. Moreover, the fact that researchers will be able to access all information describing the practical implications of an illness and its treatment can result in the improvement of the existing care procedures.
The organizational policies must incorporate a need to include information technology education as an essential requirement for all staff members to ensure that they can use and add information to the system. Additionally, safety regulations regarding an individual’s personal data in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act should be implemented. Procedures may include the need to record digitally all relevant information that can help practitioners.
References
Alexander, M. (2018). The 21st century nurse. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(4), 3. Web.
Health IT legislation. (2019). Web.
Stone, A. (2019). 21st Century Cures is a broad law that impacts narrow categories. Web.