This document discusses the benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) and how to build consensus around their implementation in healthcare organizations. It outlines that EHRs provide complete patient information across providers, improve care coordination and clinical decision-making. The document also notes that EHRs can increase safety through features like computerized physician order entry and electronic medication administration. Finally, it emphasizes that proper training and support are essential to a successful EHR transition.

1. Electronic Health Record:
Building Consensus
Through Education
Andrea Oleary, Erina Nhundu, & Sarah Newman
NUR 353 Information Management in Health Care
Jacksonville University

2. What is EHR?
 An electronic record that contains the health-related
information on an individual (Hebda &
Czar, 2013)
 Should conform to nationally recognized
interoperability standards & be accessible to
authorized clinicians & staff across more than one
healthcare organization
 Computerized version of patient’s paper chart
 Providers are able to record information
electronically, eliminating need for paper charting

3. Why EHR is essential to
healthcare
 Provides complete & accurate patient information to
providers throughout different organizations,
facilities, & practices
 Provides continuity of care across continuum
 Promotes improved clinical decisions through
increased knowledge

4. How To Build Consensus
for EHR in Workplace
 Address questions & educate potential user in order
to promote consensus & implement use
 Topics that will be covered include:
• Benefits of EHR: increased quality, safety, & efficiency
• Costs associated with EHR
• Facilitating successful transition to electronic records

5. Seamless Exchange &
Availability of Health Info.
 Leads to improved patient care coordination
• Comprehensive patient information is easily accessible by
multiple healthcare providers
• Reduces delays in patient care related to unknown patient
history
• Consolidation of patient’s record which includes past
medical history, demographics, vital signs, assessment
history, current & past medications, laboratory results,
radiology results, & current diagnosis
 Enables providers to make care decisions based on
complete health profile of patient
 Saves time by reducing amount of redundant information
to be collected during patient encounter

6. Increased Quality of Care
 Quality of care- doing the right thing at the right time in
the right way to the right person & having the best
possible result (Menachemi & Collum, 2011)
 EHR helps support concept of wellness management &
initiates preventative health measures by alerting
providers when preventative health screening is due
 Supports data collection & public health reporting
• Public health reporting supports research efforts &
identifies trends
• Data collection can be analyzed to determine impact of care
& interventions

7. Increased Quality of Care
continued
 Can also contribute to health of community by
prompting for administration of vaccines such as
influenza vaccine

8. Increased Safety &
Efficiency Via Components
 Clinical Decision Support
• May include clinical practice guidelines, alerts &
reminders, order sets, patient data reports &
dashboards, diagnostic support, workflow tools, &
financial applications
• Use of decision clinical support has been linked to
increased adherence to evidence-based practices
(Menachemi & Collum, 2011)

9. Increased Safety &
Efficiency continued
Mount Sinai Hospital, 2013 http://www.mountsinai.org/about-us/
newsroom/press-releases/electronic-medical-records-at-the-mount-sinai-
medical-center-shown-to-greatly-improve-quality-of-care

10. Increased Safety &
Efficiency continued
 Electronic Medication Administration
• EMAR is capable of incorporating patient identifiers
(wristbands with barcodes or RFID technology) with use of
barcodes on medications
• Scanning device is used to capture barcode data &
automatically chart medication administration
• Facilitates 5 rights of medication administration: right
patient, right drug, right time, right dose, & right route
• Can automatically generate user message when
medications are past due, warn user if medication has black
box warning or is considered high-alert, & can require 2nd
sign-off on high alert drugs such as insulin & heparin
• Time required to administer medication can be decreased
through automation while safeguards in place during
process can eliminate errors

11. Increased Safety &
Efficiency continued
 Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems
• Medications, tests, & consults from other departments can
be ordered directly through EHR & sent to appropriate
department automatically
• Saves time & eliminates potential for indecipherable
handwriting
• Assists providers with clinical decisions by offering
suggested dosages, notifying of potential drug interactions,
& providing allergy alerts
• 55% decrease in errors when computerized order entry is
utilized (Bates, et al., 1999)
• 83% reduction in errors when computerized order entry is
combined with use of clinical decision support (Bates, et al.,
1999)

12. Increased Safety &
Efficiency continued
http://www.athenahealth.com/whitepapers/ehr-adoption/
img/fig1-chart.gif

13. Increased Safety &
Efficiency continued
http://ehrintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/Area-of-exchange-impact.
jpg

14. Decreasing Costs of
Implementation
 Upfront Cost Minimization
• HITECH act has established provision of incentive
payments for eligible professionals & hospitals if
meaningful use of EHR technology is demonstrated

15. Decreasing Cost of
Implementation continued
 Long-term Offsetting of Costs
• Elimination of costs associated with maintenance,
storage, & retrieval of paper records
• Easier reimbursement from both Medicare &
Medicaid
• Improved ability to capture correct charges for client
through automation
• Capturing correct charges first time decreases number
of billing errors which can delay payment
• Increased productivity

16. Decreasing Cost of
Implementation continued
http://blog.capterra.com/wp-content/
uploads/2013/09/risks-of-emr-graph.jpg

17. Ensuring Successful
Transition
 Support from Key Individuals within Organization
• Engage support by appointing key staff throughout organization to
act as advocates & proponents for utilization of EHRs
 Proper Training & Expectations
• Adequate time & resources must be invested into training process to
avoid staff becoming frustrated with new technology & attempting to
work around technology instead of working with technology
• Focus training on EMR features that speed up documentation process
• Staff needs to be capable of navigating system efficiently to maintain
productivity levels during conversion process
• Staff must know where to quickly find essential patient data & be able
to properly input pertinent data into system
• A setting-in period of 6-8 weeks after implementation is not
uncommon; during this time, users are becoming acquainted with how
they can best document patient encounter (LMR, n.d.)

18. Conclusion
 EHRs provide means to access patient information
across different healthcare settings in order to
provide optimum client care
 EHRs contribute to & enable safe, efficient, & high
quality personalized care
 Implementation costs can be reduced by utilizing
meaningful use incentives
 Training of staff & staff support are crucial for
successful implementation

19. Conclusion continued
 Educating individuals throughout organization
about key points covered in presentation can lead to
consensus for adoption of EHRs by showcasing
value EHRs bring to healthcare process, helping to
minimize concerns about cost, and explaining how
to successfully implement EHRs in workplace

20. References
Bates,D.,Leape,L.,Cullen,D.,Laird,N.,Peterson,L.,Teich,J.,Burdick,E.,et al. (1998).Effect of
computerized physician order entry and a team intervention on prevention
of serious medication errors. JAMA,280(15);1311-1316
Bates,D.,Teich,J.,Lee,J.,Seger,D.,Kupperman,G.,Ma’Luf,N.,Boyle,D.,et al. (1999).The
impact of computerized physician order entry on medication error
prevention.J Am Med Inform Assoc.,6(4);313-321
Hebda,T.,Czar,P. (2013). Handbook of Informatics for Nurses and Healthcare
Professionals (5th ed.). Boston,MA: Pearson Vue
LMR Partners Healthcare Organization. (n.d.) Electronic medical records
implementation frequently asked questions.Retrieved from
https://lmr.partners.org/lmr/securelogin//AboutMR%5CLMRFAQ.htm
Menachemi,N.,Collum,T. (2011).Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health
record systems. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy,4;47-55