Electronic Medical records Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Electronic Medical records - Assignment Example The present study would focus on the electronic medical records are computerized records. They are introduced in the medical world to replace the tedious paper based records. Paper based mode of recording is the most used by many hospitals. Most medical practitioners find it cheap and easy to use this method. Regardless of the cost, paper based records, require a lot of storage space unlike computerized records that only take the space of a hard disk or any other storage device. Electronic media records can be easily located in case of reference according to HIMSS. This is quite not the case with paper-based records where a lot of room is required to store up the paper work. Trying to locate paper-based records is time consuming and at times results to inaccurate information or lack of it generally. Electronic Media Records are known to be cost effective, thus improving the quality of service, cost and general wellbeing of the patients in the long run. This eventually leads to a redu ction in the cost of hospitalization for patients and improves the overall safety of the patient. Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital’s aim behind the institution of the EMR was to improve efficiency in record keeping, operations and patient care. The successful implementation of a project depends largely on its planning and efficiency of the project team as noted by HIMSS. According to the General Manager of the hospital, it was important for the hospital to roll out a planning development strategy on the implementation of the Electronic Media Records. ... Resources for and Constraints to the Implementation of the EMR System Estimating the cost of a project is important if the same has to be successfully implemented according to Whitehead (2003). This was the greatest determinant as to whether the EMR system would be successfully implemented. The hospital organized its board members and come up with a reliable source of funds for the implementation of the EMR. Fortunately, the hospital had most of the required resources in terms of funds, skilled personnel, Internet connectivity, and a well networked set of computers. The main constraint was that the hospital needed better firewall software considering the need to protect personal and confidential records from illegal intrusion and hacking. The hospital also needed an effective EMR software. It was noted that for the effective functioning of the system, a more powerful server would be needed together with more powerful network devices. One main issue that relates to the application of the EMS in hospitals is privacy. Indeed the issue of patient privacy is as weight an issue as patient autonomy. Considering that the EMS makes part of patients’ records accessible to over 500,000 payers, care providers, insurance firms and other organizations, the project team working with the hospital’s management had to establish a privacy policy to be applied by the hospital in handling patient records. This would ensure that chances of privacy infringement were as much as possible minimized. Impact of the Technology According to the general manager of the hospital, the institution would expect a lower mortality rate due to cut down on medication errors with the implementation of the electronic media records system. The hospital also expected to save close to one