Electronic Health Records

Electronic health records

Electronic health records (EHR) can be used to assist hospitals in storing and retrieving patient medical information that can be utilized by health care givers and patients themselves when they are hospitalized, in various medical settings and over time. One of the ways in which EHR will be beneficial is that patient information and medical history is “stored and easily accessed through the use of technology in many hospital and health care facilities all over the world” (Hoerbst, et al., 2010). There is now an efficient and reliable management of patient records in the hospital. With the use of EHR, patients are able to access their records from medical facilities via Portals and the Internet. Medical staff are also able to efficiently access information and records and better manage the storage of healthcare records.

One of the impediments to implementing HER systems would be the resistance that might come from staff. Implementing an electronic medical record system would mean that jobs initially designated for record keepers would be discontinued, thereby reducing the amount of staff retained to do the work. In cases where staff foresees such changes, they are most likely to resist and HER implementation. Staff might also be afraid that change would involve sophisticated technology that isn’t easily learned.

Another foreseeable impediment that the deployment of an EHR system may encounter is the inefficient training of staff to be able to effectively operate electronic health record systems. Training is a very important aspect of the implementation process that ensures all employees are comfortable and efficiently using the electronic health record system. If employees do not have enough training, then there will be low user adoption and an abandonment of a system that could have cost millions of dollars. Lack of training or lack of enough training will lead to the loss of a capital for a health care institution.

Other impediments could include that medical providers, especially those located in rural settings, refuse to adopt and support the use of EHR