Electronic Health Records (EHR): Benefits, Standards, and Regulations

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), exploring their core concepts, benefits, and crucial role in modern healthcare. It delves into the structure and functionality of EHRs, emphasizing their ability to enhance patient care through improved data accessibility, reduced medical errors, and better-informed decision-making. The report examines the philosophical views surrounding EHRs, addressing patient considerations, implementation challenges, and the costs associated with adoption. It highlights the undeniable importance of EHRs in healthcare, including their potential to reduce medical errors, improve documentation, and facilitate better treatment protocols. Furthermore, the report outlines the potential benefits of EHRs, such as financial improvements, enhanced quality of care, and increased customer and job satisfaction, as well as regulatory compliance. Finally, the report concludes with a discussion of the future prospects of EHR implementation and its continued impact on the healthcare industry.

Running Head: ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR) 1
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR)

ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR) 2
EHR
Abstract
One of the main features of the electronic health record can be managed and created by
authorized providers. A greater and a lot more seamless flow of information within the digital
health care infrastructure is created by the EHR that tends to encompasses as well as
leverages digital progress and can transform the way care is compensated and delivered. The
EHR is nowadays the backbone of the medical industry.
Introduction
The entire project will revolve around the central topic that is EHR. The electronic health
record is mainly the digital version of the patient's paper chart. The electronic health record is
patient-centered records, real-time that make the information available in a secured and
instant manner to the users. This type of records can be shared across each and every health
care setting. The project will, however, discuss what exactly EHR is and what are its
concepts, how vital are the electronic records for the healthcare and what are the standards
and regulation required for implementing it.
Discussion
EHR and its concepts
It has been observed the EHR is a collection that is quite systemized of the population as well
as the patient in an electronically stored health information in the format that is digital.
Furthermore, more than a decade ago the electronic health records were touted as the key for
enhancing the quality health care (Romano & Stafford, 2011). In recent times, the providers

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are mainly using data from the records of the patient for enhancing outcomes via their care
management programs. Combining a lot of clinical data from the system's health record has
helped the clinicians for stratifying and identifying the patients who are extremely ill.
However, EHR can also enhance the quality care by using the data as well as the analytics for
preventing the hospitalizations among the patients who are in the high-risk zones.
Throwing light on the above-mentioned discussion it can be also said that EHR is also
designed for storing the data in an accurate manner as well as to capture the patient's state
across the time. It also abolishes the need for tracking down the past paper medical records of
the patient and also it tends to assist in making sure the data is legible as well as accurate. The
risk of data replication is also reduced at an alarming rate (Jensen, Jensen & Brunak, 2012).
EHRs are also regarded as the next step in the continuous progress with regards to the
healthcare that has the ability for strengthening the relationship between the clinicians and the
patients. It has been automated by EHR for accessing the information and also has the
potential for streamlining the workflow of the clinicians. Furthermore, EHR also possesses
the ability to support the other care-related activities indirectly or directly via various
interfaces, consisting of evidence-based decision support, outcomes reporting as well as
quality management.
The timelines, and the data and the availability on it, that tends to ensure providers make the
best decisions as well as provide the best care. For instance, the EHR can enhance patient
care by:
Making the information of the health available, reducing the possible delays in the treatment,
reducing the duplication of the tests as much as possible, as well as patients well informed for
making better decisions

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Reducing the error related to medical by enhancing the clarity along with the accuracy with
regards to the medical records.
Reducing the incidence of the error related to medical by enhancing the accuracy as well as
medical records.
Philosophical views of EHR
It has been observed that there exist a number of various philosophical approaches with
regards to electronic health records. It has been seen by the health information systems
literature that EHR is mainly a container that holds information with regards to the patient as
well as it is also an important tool that aggregating the clinical data for the uses that are
secondary.
There are some of the possible to the EHR over the paper records that have been proposed
but there is a debate about the degree to which this can achieve in terms of practices.
Patient considerations, implementation, and the end user
Costs
There are some of the steep prices of EHR and also the provider uncertainty with regards to
the value they will be deriving from the adoption in the form of the return of investment has
one of the most important influences on the adoption of EHR. The prevention can be also
enhanced by EHR by providing the patients and doctor's best access towards the results of the
test, identifying the patient's information that is missing, as well as offering recommendations
that are evidence-based for the preventive services.

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Quality
The main questions that arise are whether it enhances EHR in quality healthcare. However,
one of the studies found out that there have been some of the evidence that suggested EHR
were able to provide better quality care. EHRs may also tend to enhance prevention mainly
by providing patients and doctors access to the test results.
Importance of the EHR for the healthcare
The importance of EHR in the healthcare segment is undeniable. It is mainly the digital
version with regards to the paper chart of the patient. It also allows access to the evidence-
based tools that the providers can use for making the best decision about the patient's care.
EHRs can enhance the quality and safety of health care (Hripcsak & Albers, 2012). The
adoption and effective use of health information technology can:
- Helping to reduce medical errors as well as adverse events
- Enabling better documentation as well as the file company
- Assisting the doctors in an excellent manner for tracking down their treatment
protocols
- Providing the patients with information that tends to assists their adherence for
medication regimes as well as scheduling appointments
- Electronic health record measures consist of the following:
- Hospitals with the computerized systems that tend to allow the decision support
- Hospitals with the computerized systems that allows observing
- Hospitals with the computerized systems that tend to authorize electronic clinical
documentation
- Patients who reported that it was quite vital for them in terms of getting their medical
information electronically (Jha, 2010).

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Throwing light on the above-mentioned discussion can be said that the benefits of the EHR in
the healthcare segment are numerous. The individuals find themselves in the situations of the
mass causality, for example, the natural disasters can be highly benefited from the electronic
medical records. The EHR can be used by the healthcare providers in an emergency situation
for getting a perfect picture of the medical history of the patient in a quicker manner than
with the traditional means. The electronic health records consist of the significantly less
amount of errors in the medical facilities. If necessary equipment are procured and right
individuals are hired for implementing it as well as training the employees with regards to the
new processes for the transition of the EHR can be quite costly for the healthcare providers.
On the other hand, fortunately, there is an availability of the financial incentives for helping
out the firms recouping their investments. Through the EHR incentive program, the providers
that are eligible have the opportunity for earning incentives for the adoption as well as
meaningful use of the EHR technology.
Each and every provider also has the ability for seeing which diagnostic tests the patients had,
as well as the treatments worked and which did not. Patients are also not so much susceptible
towards the duplicate imaging or testing procedures as the results and images are all in a
single place. Better coordination among the providers also leads towards the most accurate
diagnostics with regards to the chronic conditions and all total patient care, which should be
one of the main focuses of each and every health provision.
Potential benefits of the EHR
There are a lot of benefits of EHR and that can be categorized as follows:
Financial Improvement and Potential Productivity
- Fewer chart pulls
- Enhanced billing

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- Enhanced efficiency for handling the messages telephone and medication refills
- Reduced transcription costs
- The prescriptions are much clearer that leads towards fewer pharmacy callbacks and
enhanced formulary compliance
Quality of Care Improvement
- Chronic disease management has become much easier
- Integration of the evidence-based clinical guidelines
- Remote and quick access towards the information of the patient
- Point-of-care decision support
- Easy preventive care that leads towards the enhanced preventive care services
Customer Satisfaction Improvement
- Enhanced continuity of care that is fewer visits without the chart
- High-speed access to the records of the consumer
- An efficient office that mainly leads towards the enhanced care access for the patients
- The turn-around time is reduced for the medication refills and the telephone messages
- The education materials of the patients are also improved (Fernández-Alemán and et
al., 2013).
Job satisfaction improvement
- Less amount of chart chasing
- Few amounts of repetitive and tedious tasks
- Enhanced intra-office communications
- Highlighting high-quality care
- It has become also easy for complying with the regulations (Kohane, 2011).

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Conclusion
The entire report revolved around the central topic EHR. The electronic health record mainly
considered to be the systemized collection of the population and patient electronically-stored
health information in the format that is completely digital. This is some of the records that
can be shared in each and every healthcare setting. With the electronic health record, the
information is available wherever and whenever it is required. Additionally, electronic health
record enhanced care coordination, enhanced patient care, enhanced diagnostics, and patient
outcomes, enhanced patient participation as well as practicing cost savings and efficiencies.
The EHR also helps the healthcare providers to enhance their productivity and their work-life
balance and EHR also helps the providers to reduce the medical errors, diagnose the patients
and provide the care that is safer. EHR is also an expert for reducing the cost of the
paperwork, reducing duplication of the testing, and enhanced health. In the future, it is
estimated that the implementation and use of the EHR will flourish.

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References
Fernández-Alemán, J. L., Señor, I. C., Lozoya, P. Á. O., & Toval, A. (2013). Security and
privacy in electronic health records: A systematic literature review. Journal of
biomedical informatics, 46(3), 541-562.
Hripcsak, G., & Albers, D. J. (2012). Next-generation phenotyping of electronic health
records. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(1), 117-121.
Jensen, P. B., Jensen, L. J., & Brunak, S. (2012). Mining electronic health records: towards
better research applications and clinical care. Nature Reviews Genetics, 13(6), 395.
Jha, A. K. (2010). Meaningful use of electronic health records: the road
ahead. Jama, 304(15), 1709-1710.
Kohane, I. S. (2011). Using electronic health records to drive discovery in disease
genomics. Nature Reviews Genetics, 12(6), 417.
Romano, M. J., & Stafford, R. S. (2011). Electronic health records and clinical decision
support systems: impact on national ambulatory care quality. Archives of internal
medicine, 171(10), 897-903.