Electric Health Record (EHR) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Electric Health Record (EHR) - Essay Example By using the HER, clinicians are in a position to track the patient’s data over some period of time enabling them to easily identify the patients who are supposed to undergo preventive screening, check on the patient’s progress on parameters like vaccines, readings on blood pressure as well as improving and monitoring of the entire care quality of the patients. Since its introduction, the use of EHR has arguably contributed positively in making record keeping of patients more accurate, easier, more efficient and comprehensive. Since the introduction of EHR more than 40 years ago, the device has met both support and opposition. Most people consider EHR introduction as a controversial adoption in the health sector which raises issues such as excessive involvement by the government and privacy invasion. They regard the device as invading the privacy of patients is inefficient and the storage of records is not secure. Other people believe that this introduction is a signifi cant step in improving healthcare services and processes. Those in support argue that the adoption has ensured better service coordination among healthcare providers and professionals, it is cost effective and offers safer recoding of patients information (Ohno-Machado, 2011). Advantages The use of EHRs in healthcare processes has greatly reduced errors that were characteristic of medical records. The records that were hand written in the past had many human errors as a result of illegibility, misspelling and varying terminologies. EHRs have made it possible for all the health records for patients to be standardized. The EHR introduction has also served as a solution for the problem of loosing paper records. Physical records were prone to destruction by floods, fire and other catastrophes that happen naturally leading to patients and clinicians losing data. By using EHR, the records are stored digitally thus can remain virtually stored forever and for the longest time possible. The device also helps in storing health information which the patients are fond of forgetting after some time such as previous medications, illness and inoculations. By consolidating all the relevant data, health care becomes cost-effective. Paper records that were previously used were stored in different locations thus accessing them was money and time consuming. There are also a significant deficit in the process of exchanging medical information between the physicians that are based in hospitals and the primary care physicians. One of the major benefits of EHRs in the health care is the role the system played in the children hospitalized with asthma. Before the introduction of EHRs, only 4% of the children managed to get the asthma plan of action before they were discharged. Upon implementation, the number significantly increased as more than 58% of the children had the chance to benefit from the asthma action plan before they left the hospital (Hebert, 2008). The use of EHRs has als o been credited for saving lives. This is because it ensures rapid identification of the patient’s risks and an easy access of the medical history of patients, enabling rapid treatment and diagnosis in all situations including emergencies. A good example is the case of patients with heart problems and diabetes who are prone to attacks and collapsing. The device is also useful in accident situations and other trauma cases where the victims involved are not in a position to respond to questions. This was evident in the Hurricane Katrina incident (Ohno-Machado, 2011). Disadvantages Among the main opponents of the EHRs are the groups advocating for privacy rights. Such