Healthcare Informatics: Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Health Records

This essay discusses the advantages and disadvantages of electronic health records in healthcare informatics. It also covers data tracking by hospitals and nursing experiences with EHRs. The essay concludes with the need for educational modifications in the nursing curriculum for the purpose of training concerning the usage of electronic health records.

Running head: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
Introduction
With the advent of advancements in science and technology, the usage of electronic
health records is considered as imperative for the purpose of deliverance of optimum healthcare
to the patient (Bluementhal et al., 2014). The following paragraphs of this essay highlight the
salient features pertaining to the usage of the same, followed by key components of data tracking
by hospitals and the nurses experiences in handling of electronic data records.
Electronic Health Records
Electronic Health Records imply the process of digitally and technologically
documenting the salient details of a patient case study, with advantages such as ease in
understanding as compared to the handwriting of the clinician, efficiency in documentation and
access, the resultant incentives acquired by the concerned medical staff as well as significant
reduction in the usage of space (Alder-Milstein et al., 2015).
 Nature of computer charting: Despite the potential advantages, this system has not
been devoid of potential shortcomings, with recent complaints of increased focus on the
computer screen, rather than the true details of the patient. The possible negative
consequences of the usage of electronic health records may be due to the increased effort
utilized in computer charting, hence, resulting in withdrawn focusing on the requirement
of the patient. One of the major reasons for such disadvantages is due to the increased
effort required by the concerned clinician to continuously and regular update information,
in the absence of which, he may miss out on major details of the patient details. Further
efforts utilized in computer charting, include the extensively detailed information which

2HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
the clinician has to include in the record, which could have been done briefly if
performed real time, resulting in greater patient focus (Ehrenfeld & Wanderer, 2018).
 Negative effects on Patient health care: While the usage of electronic health records
has resulted in advantageous leaps in the promotion of healthcare and in-depth
availability of information concerning the case details of the patient, there has been
reported shortcomings in the quality of healthcare received by the patient, as opined in
the statements presented by the American Medical Association (Gellert, Ramirez &
Webster, 2015). This can be evident from the recent complaints made by the concerned
physicians concerning the increased efforts required by them for the purpose of
maintenance of patient health records electronically, which they could have meaningfully
utilized in the provision of time for the concerned patient, hence further resulting in lack
of appropriate communication between the two. The concerned activities of continuously
and elaborately documenting details in electronic health records have led to the
emergence of burnout, physiological and cognitive exhaustion and loss of individuality
associated with the work amongst the clinicians, further resulting in lack of priority given
to the concerned patient and the resultant negative patient healthcare quality (Rathert et
al., 2017).
 Insufficient patient data during a law suit: This is due to the presence of insufficient
information concerning the patient case details, since a majority of the electronic health
records, thrives on the usage of pre-determined templates. Such templates or patient
detail criteria formats which ignore the unique, individualized aspects required for the
each patient, due to their unique presentation of case details and symptoms, which is
completely different from the rest. This, and the resultant physician burnout suffered

3HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
from the concerned clinician, may lead to gross insufficiencies in patient data, followed
by wrong treatment and the resultant complaints by the patient families concerning
medical negligence (Ben-Assuli, 2015).
Data Tracking by Organizations
At present in any organizations, the data that are being tracked can be classified into three
types. These include: the recording of the number of falls occurred by patients in a clinical setup,
as a vital indictor of quality, information pertaining to the readmission of patients in an effort to
reduce the concerned repetition in readmission and gain incentives, and collection of feedback
from the patients concerning treatment quality, in the form of The Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems (Hebda, Hunter & Czar, 2018).
 Patient Census and Statistics: An additional type of data that may be utilized in the
event of data tracking by any concerned hospital is the maintenance of a patient census,
which includes a daily recording of information concerning the number of patients
admitted in the hospital every day. This will provide information, concerning the times of
the year when the patient admission in the hospital is the highest, followed by a clear
presentation of organizational data, specifying the concerned physician or department
which experiences the largest patient load and the time during which, the patient
population is recorded to be extremely low (Coulter et al., 2014).
 Importance of tracking Patient Census and Statistics: This recording of important
population information will yield vital data concerning which times of the year, or which
departments of the concerned clinical setting, encounter the largest load of patient
administration. It has been reported that the demand in hospital health services and

4HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
patient’s perception of provision of quality health care is reduced, during peak patient
admission periods when patient numbers outrun the number of available beds. Hence, a
tracking and availability of data pertaining to the number of patients admitted, will aid
the hospital in enhanced management of peak business periods and the resultant
enhancement in the healthcare of the concerned patients (Wang, Kung & Byrd, 2018).
 Organization concerned with tracking patient data: For the tracking of data
concerning patient census and statistics, the concerned hospital staff may undergo
training in the usage of certain technologies such as the usage of spreadsheets along
simultaneous application of electronic health records, an upgraded version of electronic
health records allowing sections for patient population recording and the application of a
caseload management software to be used besides electronic health records. Likewise, the
AIMS center, that is Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions have developed
unique systems software pertaining to Care Management and Case Load Tracking
(Cifuentes et al., 2015). Likewise, the Canadian Institute for Health Information and
Statistics Canada, aim to track patient census data for the purpose of improvement of
Canadian healthcare solutions (Evaniew et al., 2015).
 Ethical considerations: One of the key ethical considerations, pertaining to the
collection of patient census data or statistics, along with the patient disease details, is the
usage of such information for the purpose of research conductance. Since, activities
pertaining to merely the healthcare organizations, are considered ethical, hence, the usage
of such data beyond the concerned clinical setup, raises questions on a patient’s privacy,
for which, due consent of the patient must be obtained (Gracy, 2015).

5HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
Discussion Topic
The selected topic based on the information of the discussion forum, was ‘Nursing
Experiences with Electronic Health Records’.
 Importance: Nurses are required to the undertake a variety of multidisciplinary roles,
concerning patient evaluation, assessment and feedback, and not merely restricting
themselves in the alleviation of the somatic symptoms of the same. Further, as opined by
the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, the need of the hour is to undertake
systematic modifications in the nursing educational curriculum, in order to inculcate the
usage of technology. This is due to the present mandatory usage of electronic health
records by the Healthcare Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act
(Mennemeyer et al., 2016). However, despite the perceived advantages of the same, there
has been reported difficulties in the usage of electronic health records by nurses, who are
learning the implementation of such technologies. One of the key drawbacks reported by
the nurses was the presence of distress in the usage of such technology, due to the
detailed effort required and awareness of the possible medical repercussions concerning
errors in electronic documentation. Further complaints included reduced user friendliness
pertaining to the usage of electronic health records and the lack of support received
during incidences of technical glitches (Gephart, Carrington & Finley, 2015). Hence, the
importance of this discussion topic, lies in identifying the experiences of nurses
concerning usage of such records and the possible negative effects, which would pave the
way for the development of improved training and education of the nurses concerning the
implementation of the same.

6HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
 Information Sciences: The Informatics or Healthcare theory which is believed to align
best with the above mentioned topic for discussion is the theory of Information Sciences.
The theory of Information Sciences implies the exploitation and usage of various types of
scientific based information pertaining to technological implementation. Since the usage
of electronic health records is associated with digitalization and technology, this is theory
is considered best suited for the aforementioned topic involving nurses in the deliverance
of optimum healthcare to the patients. In this situation, there is scientific and
technological information is applied to assist in the retrieval, management and analysis of
information pertaining to the healthcare of the concerned patient. The key features of the
Information Sciences theory which can be associated with the usage of electronic health
records by patients, involves retrieval of information, as evident by the documentation
and obtaining of patient information in the record data. Additional features which are
relatable are interactions performed between the computer and human, as evident by the
close dedication nurses are required to offer towards their computers in maintenance of
electronic health records, along with management of information in a system as presented
by the usage of digital information by the nurses in the clinical patient setup (Hebda,
Hunter & Czar, 2018). Hence, for the above associations of the features with the key
characteristics of the discussion topic, the Information Sciences theory can be considered
as the most appropriate informatics and healthcare theory, pertaining to the nursing
experiences of utilizing electronic health records.
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded, that despite the significant benefits, the usage of electronic
health records can pose detrimental health impacts on the quality of patient treatment along with

7HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
the experiences of nurses pertaining to the usage of the same. Hence, the need of the hour, is to
implement educational modifications in the nursing curriculum for the purpose of training
concerning the usage of electronic health records, followed by key considerations of the
problems faced by the clinicians in the usage of the same.

8HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
References
Adler-Milstein, J., DesRoches, C. M., Kralovec, P., Foster, G., Worzala, C., Charles, D., ... &
Jha, A. K. (2015). Electronic health record adoption in US hospitals: progress continues,
but challenges persist. Health affairs, 34(12), 2174-2180.
Ben-Assuli, O. (2015). Electronic health records, adoption, quality of care, legal and privacy
issues and their implementation in emergency departments. Health Policy, 119(3), 287-
297.
Blumenthal, S. R., Castro, V. M., Clements, C. C., Rosenfield, H. R., Murphy, S. N., Fava,
M., ... & Smoller, J. W. (2014). An electronic health records study of long-term weight
gain following antidepressant use. JAMA psychiatry, 71(8), 889-896.
Cifuentes, M., Davis, M., Fernald, D., Gunn, R., Dickinson, P., & Cohen, D. J. (2015).
Electronic health record challenges, workarounds, and solutions observed in practices
integrating behavioral health and primary care. The Journal of the American Board of
Family Medicine, 28(Supplement 1), S63-S72.
Coulter, A., Locock, L., Ziebland, S., & Calabrese, J. (2014). Collecting data on patient
experience is not enough: they must be used to improve care. BMJ (Clinical research
ed.), 348(mar26 1), g2225-g2225.
Ehrenfeld, J. M., & Wanderer, J. P. (2018). Technology as friend or foe? Do electronic health
records increase burnout?. Current Opinion in Anesthesiology, 31(3), 357-360.

9HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
Evaniew, N., Noonan, V. K., Fallah, N., Kwon, B. K., Rivers, C. S., Ahn, H., ... & Linassi, A. G.
(2015). Methylprednisolone for the treatment of patients with acute spinal cord injuries: a
propensity score-matched cohort study from a Canadian multi-center spinal cord injury
registry. Journal of neurotrauma, 32(21), 1674-1683.
Gellert, G. A., Ramirez, R., & Webster, S. L. (2015). The rise of the medical scribe industry:
implications for the advancement of electronic health records. Jama, 313(13), 1315-1316.
Gephart, S., Carrington, J. M., & Finley, B. (2015). A systematic review of nurses' experiences
with unintended consequences when using the electronic health record. Nursing
administration quarterly, 39(4), 345-356.
Grady, C. (2015). Enduring and emerging challenges of informed consent. New England Journal
of Medicine, 372(9), 855-862.
Mennemeyer, S. T., Menachemi, N., Rahurkar, S., & Ford, E. W. (2016). Impact of the HITECH
act on physicians’ adoption of electronic health records. Journal of the American Medical
Informatics Association, 23(2), 375-379.
Rathert, C., Mittler, J. N., Banerjee, S., & McDaniel, J. (2017). Patient-centered communication
in the era of electronic health records: What does the evidence say?. Patient education
and counseling, 100(1), 50-64.
Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and
potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 126, 3-13.

10HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS