Analysis of EHR System Adoption: Advantages and Implementation

This report analyzes the adoption of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems within a healthcare setting, focusing on the perspective of nurses in a small New York hospital. The report explores the reasons behind EHR adoption, including the advantages of digital data storage, enhanced information safety, and improved efficiency. It discusses the relative advantages, compatibility, and simplicity of the system, addressing nurses' concerns about disruption and complexity. The report also examines trialability and observable results, highlighting how demonstrations and hands-on experience can influence adoption. Key concepts from Roger's theory of innovation are applied to understand the factors influencing the adoption process. The conclusion emphasizes the benefits of EHR systems for improved patient care, data management, and work-life balance for healthcare professionals.

Running head: ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
Adoption of Electronic Health Record System
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note

1ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
Introduction
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is often termed as the Electronic Medical
Record (EMR). The EHR is the procedure of systematic storage of the patient’s data in a
digital format. It is the digitalized version of the patient medical issue chart. These charts
represent the real time information to the concerned authorities instantly and incorporate
provisions to reveal the information to the respective authorized users only (Andrus et al.,
2015). The paper describes the reasons behind the adoption of the EHR system. It briefly
describes the steps taken up by the nurse and the points of discussion regarding the adoption
of the new system. It also brings to light the relative advantage of the EHR system. It also
provides other features of the EHR system such as the simplicity of the usage as well as the
compatibility offered. Furthermore, she also discusses on the trial ability of the new health
record system. Finally the observable results of the utilization of the record system are also
discussed.
Analysis
The Electronic Health Record system stores the patient’s data in the digitalized format
and produces the required information instantly to the concerned authorities (Beatty et al.,
2015). In the present scenario there are conflicts regarding the utilization of such medical
data storage system. Thus, the nurse in the small hospital in New York together with her team
would be implementing the new system and also preparing the nurses for the new system.
They were made aware of the various advantages imparted by the electronic health record
system (Adler-Milstein et al., 2015). However, the system incorporates no features for
providing the medical history of the patient. The various points of discussion according to
Roger theory are discussed below:

2ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
Relative advantage
The relative advantage states that the nurses compare the advantages of the current
system with the new Electronic Health Record system. The Electronic Health Records
incorporates the potential to store the patient’s medical information digitally and enhance the
information safety issues not only for the patient but also for the organization (Clegg et al.,
2016). The nurses are reluctant towards the adoption of such new system as it would lead to
the disruption of their daily schedule. However, they benefits imparted by the new system are
far ahead of the disadvantages offered by it. The new system incorporates techniques to store
up to date, accurate and the entire information of the patient.
It also enables the secured sharing of the electronic information not only with the
patients but also with the other clinics. In addition to these, it also offers enhanced medical
drug prescription (King et al., 2014). Moreover, it also improves the productivity and the
work life balance of the nurses as well as the medical practitioners. Furthermore, it also
promotes legible, complete documentation of the patient records that also includes the billing.
In other words, it provides complete health care convenience.
Compatibility
Compatibility is another feature that needs greater attention. The implementation of
the system requires the prior investigation of the features and functionality of the newly
proposed system such as the Electronic Health Record in the present scenario. Moreover, it
should also be investigated that the system meets the requirements of the organization and
whether or not it is compatible with the existing system (Czaja et al., 2015). The new
electronic medical record system poses high compatibility to the existing system of medical
record maintenance. Moreover, the new system would smoothly get aligned with the current
practices and the guidelines followed. The new system posses the potential to provide easy
access to the data and the technique of extraction of data is similar and much easier than the

3ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
existing techniques, thus making it compatible with the existing system. Thus, it can be easily
handled by the nurses and they do not face much difficulty in learning the implementation
technique of the new system.
Simplicity
The simplicity is yet another factor that needs immense consideration prior to the
adoption of the new system. The nurses in the present scenario are also reluctant towards the
adoption of the Electronic Health Record system as they feel that the new system would be
complex to understand and also difficult to use (O’Malley et al., 2015). Thus, to remove such
thoughts of the nurses the leader nurse needs demonstrate the ease with which the
documentation could be done. For the further removal of the issues of the nurses the leader
nurse should also demonstrate the process of reading and searching for the doctor’s order, the
administration of the barcode medication and also the convenience the new system offers to
search for the lab results and the radiology reports. According to the studies, it can be said
that the new ideas are easy to be leant and implemented just the adopted needs to enhance the
skill and understanding.
Trialability
Trialability refers to the condition in which the nurses physically undergo the trail of
the new system such that they have the real time testing of the system. The main aim of this
feature of the Roger’s research is to illustrate the target audience the simplicity and effortless
interaction of the new proposed electronic health record system (Barnett, Mehrotra & Jena,
2016). The potential users here, namely the nurses can test the product and view the details as
explained to them by the leader nurse. Such systems should be handled to every nurse such
that they would utilize and explore it. Moreover, the proposal can only be adopted on the
basis of the final decision of the target audience after the hand on trial of the Electronic
Health Record system which is under the consideration. Trailability also provides the nurses

4ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
the chance to understand the working of the system and clear out the confusion regarding the
working of any process.
Observable results
According to the theory stated by Everett Roger, observable results are one of the five
qualities that determine the individuals towards the adoption of the new technology. The
nurses in the present scenario were reluctant towards the adoption of the new Electronic
Health Record system as it would disturb the daily schedule of the nurses. Moreover, they
also found the new system complex and difficult to understand (Meeks et al., 2014).
However, with the demonstration of the effortless and convenient interaction of the leader
nurse with the software, the nurses were convinced about the software utilization. Moreover,
the benefits offered by the new system were also convincing. Furthermore, it also enabled
safe storage of the patient’s data as well as sharing of the data was also limited to the
authorized users and to some clinics (Holden et al., 2015). It also provided easy access to the
data and helps maintain the schedule and lab reports safely. Thus, the nurses were convinced
by the leader nurse that led to the adoption of the new Electronic Health Record system.
Conclusion
Thus, with the above discussion it can be concluded that the adoption of the
Electronic Health Record system would be highly beneficial for the medical clinics. The EHR
system implements the digitalized storage of patient’s data. Moreover, it also helps the
patients to get properly diagnosed as the information regarding the medical issue of the
patient can be instantly obtained. Furthermore, the ease of access the simplicity of the system
further attracts the nurses. The compatibility of the system also leads to the adoption of the
new system. The system offers other advantages such as the proper maintenance of the work
life balance and proper storage of medical data.

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