Electronic Health Records

Electronic Health Records The state of today's technology has transformed many of the methods and systems society uses to live and interact with one another. In the medical community, technology has also become a much larger part of how healing and the healing processes are carried out by health care professionals on a day-to-day basis. The purpose of this essay is to discuss how one piece of technology as represented by Electronic Health Records, has changed and modified the delivery of health care.

To help understand this argument, this subject will be approached from the aspect of society's beliefs and values and how this affected this evolution of practical medicine. Growth Of Technology The ability to compress data in small, electronic packages has changed the world in many ways. Electronic health records (HER) have manifested in the medical community because of this technology that allows the compression of data into simply transferable packages that can be rapidly stored, altered and communicated in relatively short times across the globe.

To understand how these changes have taken place, it is necessary to understand how EHRs provide assistance to medical professionals. EHRs are intended to reduce administrative time resources that require the need to retrieve and examine medical information contained in these records. Computerized systems in general are useful when trained and knowledgeable people can manipulate these systems to their fullest advantage. This time saving effort can help conserve resources, reduce mistakes and create more avenues of access for treatment by non-local professionals with relative ease.

Menachemi & Collum (2011) remarked on the evolution of this effort in their research as they documented the pros and cons of electronic health record systems. They premised their research on the idea that The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 encouraged the professional utilization of EHRs allowing for the analysis of their usage.

The article eventually concluded that there were both significant pros and cons to this policy and that EHRs when applied in the proper methods can have significant benefits to a health care facility or system. They wrote "Nationwide implementation of EHRs is a necessary, although not sufficient, part in transforming the U.S. health care system for the better. EHR adoption must be considered one of many approaches that diversify our focus on quality improvement and cost reduction.

The current major legislative and political support for EHRs represents the greatest investment in health information technologies in U.S. history. Over time, providers and researchers will be eager to quantify the returns that are expected from these investments." Privacy Concerns The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust and professionalism. The need for secrecy and privacy in medical treatment is necessary in order for the patient to feel comfortable and heal in a useful mindset. Electronic health records put this relationship and the idea of privacy at risk.

This problem is common amongst all electronic data, however the medical industry needs to address privacy issues as a main concern due to the unique circumstances that medical professionals have in their role in healing. The need for trust, compassion and understanding are all important aspects of the healing process, and EHRs put this sensitive information into cyberspace for with sometimes minimal protection. The delivery of health care now must be more aware of these privacy issues.

Electronic health record administrative professionals have developed within this area to help address this problem as these specially trained people can help integrate these practices into the general work flow practices of the health care facility or office. Thede (2010) expressed the importance of addressing this issue in her research.

She suggested that "to what extent can we garner the benefits of an electronic health record (EHR) while maintaining data privacy? Most of us are aware that the risk to privacy of any information increases exponentially with each additional person whom we tell. This is especially true for electronic communication. Social networking members, who have shared what they thought was private information with "friends," have too often found that the information is now accessible far beyond what they ever imagined; now it is permanently engraved in cyberworld.

These observations rightly raise concerns when information in a medical record is involved." Society's Influence The values of today's society reflect a dependence on material and little importance is placed in faith, spirituality or reliance on one's neighbor for help. The need for the highly trained professional to manage our specific problems has resonated in today's society as the compartmentalization and micromanaging of ideas.