by Marla Cybul, RNC MBA | Nov 16, 2015 | Electronic Health Records, Quality Care
Today, so much of healthcare seems to be about the technology available to provide more cost effective and safer care to our at-risk patients, such as those on Medicaid. At times, we need to be reminded to take a step back and remember healthcare is about our patients. The onslaught of new technology can affect patients in both positive and negative ways. Below are 5 ways that may not be apparent at first glance:
Patients are unaware of the astounding amounts of information that is available within their EHR that may be able to impact their quality of life
While some patients are hesitant to share information freely, the open sharing of health information with appropriate providers can help make great strides in an individual’s health status.
As patients share reliable information, providers are able to create and collaborate to facilitate the best plan of care
Collaborative care plans yield better results and a more personal approach to treatment. Without shared information, the best care plans cannot be created.
Providers have the ability to track their care and thus provide the services necessary for a positive outcome
Patients who cannot make it to an appointment or are more concerned with finding food or a place to sleep may put those priorities ahead of having a needed procedure. Healthcare information access can uncover patient needs that go beyond those that are purely medical.
Patients are uninformed of the education they can utilize through their EMR
Patients can access specific articles and data directly related to their care and become active partners in their own treatments. Research is clear that outcomes improve when patients have ownership of their own health.
Patients are unfamiliar with the patient portal and how valuable communicating with their providers can affect their care
Faster, more efficient communication is possible when patients take advantage of options provided by the patient portals. Too few utilize this important resource that is provided free, often as a result of Meaningful Use requirements.
Do you remember to keep the “care” in healthcare or does the data too often cause you to look at patients as cases and treatments as events?
by Brett Kinsler | Sep 14, 2015 | Electronic Health Records, Population Health
Most hospitals and health systems in the US have instituted EHRs across their enterprises for health data management. However, the realization of value from that significant investment is sometimes lacking. This is often due to improper or incomplete installation, failure to leverage features or an organization that has not otherwise prioritized initiatives to extract value from their EHRs.
CIOs in healthcare are now seeking and forming programs to increase the benefits their hospitals and health systems can gain from electronic health record systems. According to a recent survey of the 1,400+ members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the HIT industry should expect an increased focus on the optimization of EHRs. More than 70% of responding CHIME members stated that this coming year’s top IT priorities for their organization will be projects that harness value from their EHRs. And of these respondents, almost three quarters plan to utilize outside firms to assist their internal teams with these projects.
This is a forward-thinking and positive trend which should have tangible benefits on an organization’s bottom line as well as yielding outcomes-based improvement for stated initiatives. More data is of no benefit without using that information in a positive way. Programs like the Unity Health System’s Community Diabetes Collaborative (CDC), which helped Rochester-area patients with diabetes improve their blood glucose levels by 14 percent in the first 18 months, take what could have been background noise and transform it into population health initiatives that improve care quality and save money.
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