NR 599 Week 3 Discussion: EHRs Benefits and Drawbacks (EHRs)

NR 599 Week 3 Discussion: EHRs Benefits and Drawbacks (EHRs) As discussed in the lesson and assigned reading for this week, EHRs provide both benefits and drawbacks. Create a “Pros” versus “Cons” table and include at least 3 items for each list. Next to each item, provide a brief rationale as to why you selected to include it on the respective list. Pros Rationale Cons Rationale Decrease medical errors Patient safety is the number one priority of all healthcare works and facilities. Possible privacy violations Exposing patient data and can make it unavailable for a particular time (Alghamdi, Alomari, Althubaiti & Aziz, 2017). Makes patient lose trust and can be costly to facility. Increased adherence to evidence-based clinical guidelines and effective care Provides best practice to patients and promotes better patient outcomes. Cost of maintenance of EHR Cost of maintaining ERH as well as the cost of training for the employee to learn system may be too much for some smaller facilities. Faster results and treatment of patients Labs and other tests are more readily available to providers and therefore reduces the delay of medical treatment and enhancing the quality of care (Alghamdi, Alomari, Althubaiti & Aziz, 2017). National interoperability Unable to cross patient data from one database to another, which may cause delay in care or missed information of the patient. Refer to the Stage 3 objectives for Meaningful Use located in this week’s lesson under the heading Meaningful Use and the HITECH Act. Select two objectives to research further. In your own words, provide a brief discussion as to how the objective may impact your role as an APN in clinical practice. One objective that I found relevant in the stage 3 objectives for Meaningful Use was the ability of the patient to view, download and transmit their personal health information including labs and other information within a four-day window of their visit. One benefit of the direct release of healthcare information is it leads to better-informed patients who are more involved in their care. Another benefit is it improves patient safety by allowing patients to see results and avoiding missed follow-ups of critical findings. According to Walker, Meltsner, and Delbanco (2015) 8– 26% of abnormal test results are not followed