EHR Implementation and Use

Electronic Health Records The health institutions in the contemporary society are known to use the electronic means or the soft copy of the information concerning the patients that they handle. Being that the Electronic Health Records (EHR) has become rampant and almost used in each health facility, there has been increased interest in examining the actual significance of the EHR, the elements that make up the EHR, the agencies that are concerned with the regulation of the same and the access and handling of the information held therein.

The EHR are basically information that is stored in an electronic medium like the magnetic medium intended for easy and secure retention and retrieval of the information on the patient with the sole purpose of ensuring that the patient receives efficient and quality care (AHIMA, 2004:Pp1).

The standardization of the EHR is aimed at ensuring the quality and safety of the health care, secure exchange of health information as well as reduction in the costs to the patient and facility through the following provisions: The EHR enables the availing of the health information to the concerned and authorized care provider and in all the circumstances where the patient gets care, in effect improving the continuity of care, making better the coordination between health care providers and ensuring informed decision making process.

Through the EHR, the consumers are also given the accurate and complete details that facilitate the right and easy decision making by the consumers about their own health care. The EHR have also been noted to aid in prevention of the duplication of treatments as well as repeated procedures and in effect avoiding or reducing the preventable medical errors. Through this electronic systems, there is a greatly cut down administrative costs and along it reduction in the clerical errors that may b in the previous manual system.

The electronic system has also been seen to facilitate the gathering of standardized data to be used in evaluating the medical techniques, drugs and devices and in this manner, improving on the medical research that keeps the health sector informed and improving each year. The EHR has in the recent past helped the medical field to introduce safe and effective practices and products through the information collected and transmitted in time when the need arises (Missouri Health Connection, 2014).

There are various bodies/agencies that are concerned with ensuring the EHR system works to the desired standards and are protected across the nation to ensure the safety of each patient. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 28, 2010 issued the first set of rules and standards that the EHR needed to adhere to, there have been several adjustments since and this makes this federal agency the first and probably most important partner in the EHR implementation (Robert Johnson Foundation, 2010).

The other significant player in the EHR implementation is the Local Health Departments (LHD) which are responsible for the grassroots implantation of the EHR at the community level. Though some of the LHD lack the large capacity, they are significant in the ensuring the adherence to the EHR rules and regulations and are the building blocks for the larger implementation of the same (Gulzar S.H., 2011).

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules deals with the EHR especially in the issues to do with the privacy of individual identifiable health information. The HIPAA rules establish the standards for the security of the electronic health data and information which ensure that the patient is safe and the information on them are also secured properly. The information concerning an individual's health may not be shared with anyone except with the direct consent of the person.

The consent needs to be in written form unless the individual is incapacitated, then he will be assisted by the privacy officer. The patient has the right to restrict certain uses of his information or disclosure of the same. The individual also has the right to inspect and copy their health information. Patients also have the special privacy rights to their HIV status, alcohol treatment information as well as their genetic information and the mental health information. In.