Why is Healthcare Informatics suddenly consuming me?
It seems as though everywhere we turn there is no escaping more technology in our everyday lives. This is especially true with in the healthcare profession. When we visit our primary care doctors, they sit at the computer reviewing our latest lab results, send our new prescriptions to our pharmacy of choice and so on. These are all time savers we have gradually grown accustom to. This gradual process has been the influx of healthcare informatics. It all started several years ago when computers were introduced at the bedside.
Why is this form of technology so important we ask? Healthcare is a field of profession where no mistakes are allowed or in reality we do everything in our power to reduce. Healthcare Informatics has greatly impacted the safety of medicine. With computerized charting alerts, and improved communication amongst departments errors have been significantly reduced. Computerized charting is not speedier in the beginning but when you look at the examples given earlier regarding what we now have access to at our doctors appointment you begin to see the light.
The use of Healthcare Informatics has transformed the way hospitals and physician offices do business. Paper has been reduced. Employees have had to step up to the plate and become computer savvy. Communication between all health care staff involved in direct patient care has been streamlined. Standards of care have been established to provide better quality of care for the patient. These are just a few of the many reasons Healthcare Informatics are so important to the delivery of care to the patient.
So with the patient in mind the question now becomes who owns the electronic health record? There is no concise answer because there are a lot of hands in this pie. We have to go back to the beginning and say well, there would not be a record if it were not for the patient. With this thought in mind it is fair to say the patient probably holds the strongest ownership. The EHR also is very private information about the patient so therefor ownership is granted. The health care provider has some ownership in the EHR as it is their medical decisions about the patient that are contained with in this file. The health care provider is legally responsible for outcomes and treatment decisions with in the EHR. The insurance companies, government and the health care system all have a limited ownership based on the fact they are monetarily driven.
Alexa Martin RN, ASN
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
No Responses Yet to “Why is Healthcare Informatics suddenly consuming me?”