Are Electronic Medical Records a Cure for Health Care?
Case Study Week VII
Are Electronic Medical Records a Cure for Health Care?
MGT 5014 – Information Systems
Dr. Bourgeois
Summary “The information contained in the medical record allows health care providers to determine the patient's medical history and provide informed care. The medical record serves as the central repository for planning patient care and documenting communication among patient and health care provider and professionals contributing to the patient's care (Medical Records, 2012).” Medical information today is still being kept by using paper medical records. In 2010, 80 percent of doctors and 90 percent of hospitals were still using paper medical records. This is in the United States. With the enormous cost of medical care spending is inflated because of inefficiency, errors, and fraud. Information technology may provide the answer by streamlining the current use of paper medical records into a unified national electronic medical record (EMR) system. The creation of this system is at the urging of the government and many insurance companies are also lending their support to the development of EMR systems (Laudon, 2012). “In 2009, the United States spent $2.5 trillion on health, which was 17.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Approximately 12 percent of that figure was spent on administrative cost, most of which involve the upkeep of medical records (Laudon, 2012).” An EMR system will reduce medical errors, improve care, create less paperwork, and provide quicker service to patient. This is the belief of many experts and will also lead to future savings of an estimated $77.8 billion per year. The government has a short term goal for health providers to have an EMR system in place by 2015. The long term goal is to have a nationwide EMR system for medical for medical record keeping. A major obstacle to overcome is the systems that have been development and implemented in 2010 will they be compatible with one
Are Electronic Medical Records a Cure for Health Care?
MGT 5014 – Information Systems
Dr. Bourgeois
Summary “The information contained in the medical record allows health care providers to determine the patient's medical history and provide informed care. The medical record serves as the central repository for planning patient care and documenting communication among patient and health care provider and professionals contributing to the patient's care (Medical Records, 2012).” Medical information today is still being kept by using paper medical records. In 2010, 80 percent of doctors and 90 percent of hospitals were still using paper medical records. This is in the United States. With the enormous cost of medical care spending is inflated because of inefficiency, errors, and fraud. Information technology may provide the answer by streamlining the current use of paper medical records into a unified national electronic medical record (EMR) system. The creation of this system is at the urging of the government and many insurance companies are also lending their support to the development of EMR systems (Laudon, 2012). “In 2009, the United States spent $2.5 trillion on health, which was 17.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Approximately 12 percent of that figure was spent on administrative cost, most of which involve the upkeep of medical records (Laudon, 2012).” An EMR system will reduce medical errors, improve care, create less paperwork, and provide quicker service to patient. This is the belief of many experts and will also lead to future savings of an estimated $77.8 billion per year. The government has a short term goal for health providers to have an EMR system in place by 2015. The long term goal is to have a nationwide EMR system for medical for medical record keeping. A major obstacle to overcome is the systems that have been development and implemented in 2010 will they be compatible with one
References: Chin H. (2004). The Reality of EMR Implementation: Lessons from the Field. The Permanente Journal. Retrieved on June 16, 2012, http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/fall04/reality.html Chitnavis B., Muhs S., Wood G Clayton P. (2001). Obstacles to the Implementation and Acceptance of Electronic Medical Record Systems. Retrieved on June 16, 2012, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22845/ Electronic Medical Records Healthcare Business Intelligence (BI). (2012). Retrieved on June 17, 2012, http://www.m-scribe.com/about-m-scribe/healthcare-business-intelligence-bi/ Hill D Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2012). Management Informations Systems - Managing the Digital Firm. Person Prentice Hall. Medical record. (2012). Retrieved on June 17, 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_record Poon, E., Blumenthal, D., Jaggi T., Honour, M.,Bates D., and Kaushal R