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Foundations in Healthcare Information Management Task #1:
EHR Functions
Western Governors University
Name:
2025
, 2
A. Acute Care Function
Four core electronic health records (EHR) applications used by clinical end-users in acute
care are result management, point-of-care documentation, medication management, and clinical
decision support (CDS).
One electronic health record (EHR) application used is Result management, which gives
physicians easy access to test results, such as diagnostic studies, pathologies, and labs. This
application also keeps an ongoing record of the patient’s vitals. All the results are accumulated
and graphed to help the physician monitor the patient’s progress. Another EHR application used
is Point-of-Care (POC) documentation. This application is where nurses and physicians
document patient’s assessment, treatment, and plan of action. This application is especially
useful for physicians and nurses because it helps guide them in collecting the data necessary for
treatment and reimbursement from the payors (Oachs & Watters, 2020.) The next
application used in the acute care setting is Medication management, which includes CPOE and
BC-MAR. CPOE enables providers to order anything needed to treat patients, such as lab tests,
diagnostic testing, nutritional services, medication, and even discharge orders. CPOE or
computerized provider order entry also has a drug-allergy checking and drug-drug
contraindication checking built in to help provide safety for the patient. BC-MAR, or barcode
medication administration record, is where each patient is provided with a wristband barcode for
identification, and any packaged drug administered also has a barcode or RFID tag, which helps
identify the drug, dose, and intended route of administration (Oachs & Watters, 2020.) The last
EHR application is Clinical decision support (CDS.) Clinical decision support involves point-of-
care documentation, result management, CPOE, and BC-MAR. It draws all the patient’s
information together to help the provider make care decisions. CDS offers pre-programmed
Foundations in Healthcare Information Management Task #1:
EHR Functions
Western Governors University
Name:
2025
, 2
A. Acute Care Function
Four core electronic health records (EHR) applications used by clinical end-users in acute
care are result management, point-of-care documentation, medication management, and clinical
decision support (CDS).
One electronic health record (EHR) application used is Result management, which gives
physicians easy access to test results, such as diagnostic studies, pathologies, and labs. This
application also keeps an ongoing record of the patient’s vitals. All the results are accumulated
and graphed to help the physician monitor the patient’s progress. Another EHR application used
is Point-of-Care (POC) documentation. This application is where nurses and physicians
document patient’s assessment, treatment, and plan of action. This application is especially
useful for physicians and nurses because it helps guide them in collecting the data necessary for
treatment and reimbursement from the payors (Oachs & Watters, 2020.) The next
application used in the acute care setting is Medication management, which includes CPOE and
BC-MAR. CPOE enables providers to order anything needed to treat patients, such as lab tests,
diagnostic testing, nutritional services, medication, and even discharge orders. CPOE or
computerized provider order entry also has a drug-allergy checking and drug-drug
contraindication checking built in to help provide safety for the patient. BC-MAR, or barcode
medication administration record, is where each patient is provided with a wristband barcode for
identification, and any packaged drug administered also has a barcode or RFID tag, which helps
identify the drug, dose, and intended route of administration (Oachs & Watters, 2020.) The last
EHR application is Clinical decision support (CDS.) Clinical decision support involves point-of-
care documentation, result management, CPOE, and BC-MAR. It draws all the patient’s
information together to help the provider make care decisions. CDS offers pre-programmed
