Hello, my name is —, and I am delighted to share information on the adoption of technology and informatics within my practice setting. In our institution, technology provides an essential impact on improving outcomes for patients, streamlining the workflow, and enhancing organizational performance. EHRs, that are implemented and aligned with HITECH, provide a guarantee of safe and transparent access to a patient’s chart, which thus improves coordination with care teams. We make use of EHRs to engage patients actively in their care and support evidence-based decision-making in lines with Meaningful Use Standards. NURS FPX 8012 Assessment 1 :Technology-Informatics Use in Your Practice Setting On the other hand, challenges such as staff adaptability and interoperability remain some of the barriers to its full utilization, despite the benefits. In this respect, we have redesigned our workflows. One of these features is what we use in terms of automated medication alerts and streamlined documentation processes. Moreover, AI has emerged as vital in cutting the cost of healthcare and boosting the operational efficiency, according to Prabhod (2024). Innovations in AI have been able to support the optimization of available resources, as well as effective decision-making, significantly augmenting our capability to provide effective, equitable, and patient-centered care. These advances are in line with the Cures Act goals, and thus, our practice maintains efficient delivery of patient-centered and technologically empowered care.

Benefits of the Chosen Technology

Electronic health records (EHRs) are, in the setting of a practice, really revolutionary since they boast great advantages about enhancing both patients’ care as well as increasing efficiency in handling operational issues by Cerchione et al., (2022) in revealing that blockchain among digital innovations in enhancing EHR ecosystems, could bring safe and efficient, distributive healthcare. Among these is the centralized storing of information where access to them can be quite fluid across various healthcare team members. This ensures continuity of care because, for example, providers can obtain a patient’s medical history in a snap: allergies, continued treatments, and avoid errors. Our acute care setup, for one, has sped up medication administration through real-time alerts for drug interactions. End.

Another of the very important advantages of EHRs is their support for evidence-based practice. Clinical decision support tools help health professionals make informed decisions at the point of care, according to Musen, Middleton, and Greenes (2021), who outline the important role these systems play in augmenting clinical decision-making through the delivery of real-time, evidence-based recommendations. For instance, in our practice, preventive screening and interventions are recommended by such tools in relation to patient specifics, ensuring care will be provided in accordance with the latest clinical guidelines. Implementation of EHRs also enhanced tracking of outcomes for the patients as automated data collection and reporting became possible. This feature allows organizations to track the quality metrics and take necessary interventions in areas where improvement is required, therefore encouraging continuous quality improvement.

The use of EHRs further promotes patient engagement, which is an essential strategy for attaining better health results. Since a patient is provided with an electronic copy of his or her medical records via patient portals, patients are more inclined to participate actively in their health care. At our facility, patient engagement has positively impacted communication among patients and healthcare providers, such as checking the results of any tests ordered and requesting refills on prescriptions. Moreover, the system has educational information on patient’s condition to self-manage as well as for compliance with treatments. Altogether, these facilitate the fact that EHR is central to realizing effective, patient-centered care which is supportive to the organizational’s goal and attainment of compliance for health standards such as Meaningful Use program.

Obstacles in the Utilization of the Technology

Although EHRs have several advantages, a number of challenges prevent their best use in the practice environment for the benefit of various stakeholders. For a provider, implementing EHRs in the first place and continuing to use them later is often a time-consuming process. Many doctors and nurses report that this makes the process cumbersome, such that they have less time to actually deal with their patients but end up in so much paper work, which remains a key barrier to ensuring patients’ safety as well as good quality of care, a situation that is underlined by Bjerkan, Valderaune, and Olsen (2021). For example, in our practice, providers have complained about the inefficiency of workflow due to having to navigate multiple interfaces or input redundant data.

From an organizational point of view, the cost of implementing and maintaining EHRs is the greatest barrier. The licensing fees, hardware upgrades, and staff training all require considerable investment, straining the resources of smaller health care facilities. Ensuring interoperability is also difficult, as the systems of various vendors may not be able to communicate effectively to share data among departments or other external organizations. Fragmentation can compromise the coordination of care, especially with complex cases wherein patients are subjected to treatment through numerous providers.

Patients also face difficulties in EHR use, mainly in accessing their health information. For example, some patients in our practice complained of not easily accessing the patient portal, thus hindering them from being more actively involved in their care. All stakeholders still fear data security and privacy issues. Healthcare organizations must constantly invest in cybersecurity to protect sensitive information, but it is still susceptible to breaches or unauthorized access. Overcoming such challenges calls for a holistic approach by ensuring that it is user-friendly, that education and training never stop, and with a strong focus on interoperability and data security to ensure EHRs implementation is successful and equitable.

Workflow for the Usage of Technology

The redesigned workflow on the use of electronic health records (EHRs) in our acute care system focuses on streamlining documentation processes, enhancing communication, and optimizing the delivery of patient care. Initially, the workflow starts with the registration of the patient where administrative staff directly put demographic and insurance information into the EHR, ensuring that the same data is updated in real time. With all these interfaces directly available in clinical encounters, delay caused by collecting a physical record to review the history, lab work, and image reports is obviated. Voice recognition technologies and standardized templates have been part of the integrated EHR packages to facilitate proper documentation, wherein providers can reduce charting cycles without compromising with accuracy. Time is saved without doing redundant jobs, and ample time is kept free for doing direct patient care.

Following the implementation of the redesigned workflow, a number of key improvements have been achieved. For instance, the alerts that have been automated ensure that providers are informed of potential drug interactions during medication ordering, hence enhancing patient safety. Moreover, The secure messaging in the EHR allowed for effective direct communication between the members of the care team, promoting coordination and reducing time-to-responses for emergencies. A good example is when Chandra et al. (2023) wrote about its effectiveness in the improvement of communication for the large urban academic hospital system.The discharge process was also optimized. The EHR now produced detailed and long discharge summaries with instructions to follow and educational materials, all of which the patient portal automatically shared. This improved clinical operations’ efficiency and ensured timely delivery of precise care to the patient. Owing to ongoing review and input by stakeholders, the workflow stays open to emerging requirements and, most importantly, compliant with the most current best practice and regulatory requirement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in our practice setting, the use and integration of electronic health records have transformed how patient care takes place by availing data through enhanced accessibility for evidence-based decisions and patient participation. Challenges range from implementation cost, interoperability issues, to user-friendly design are overcome by a focused redesign that improves efficiency and communication and hence safety (Verma et al., 2023). It does this by having features such as automated alerts, documentation processes that streamline, and secure messaging. Thus, the redesigned workflow ensures that benefits are gained from both the patient’s and the providers’ side: a more streamlined and effective care experience. Continuing to overcome challenges and capitalizing on advancements in technology, EHRs stay at the center of delivering quality, patient-centered care aligned with regulations set forth by HITECH, Meaningful Use, and the Cures Act.

References

Bjerkan, J., Valderaune, V., & Olsen, R. M. (2021). Patient safety through nursing documentation: barriers identified by healthcare professionals and students. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.624555

Cerchione, R., Centobelli, P., Riccio, E., Abbate, S., & Oropallo, E. (2022). Blockchain’s coming to the hospital to digitalize healthcare services: Designing a distributed electronic health record ecosystem. Technovation, 120(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102480

Chandra, S., Oberg, M., Hilburn, G., Wu, D. T., & Adhyaru, B. B. (2023). Improving communication in a large urban academic safety net hospital system: implementation of secure messaging. Journal of Medical Systems, 47(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-023-01956-x

Musen, M. A., Middleton, B., & Greenes, R. A. (2021). Clinical decision-support systems. Biomedical Informatics, 795–840. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58721-5_24

Prabhod, K. J. (2024). The role of artificial intelligence in reducing healthcare costs and improving operational efficiency. Quarterly Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovations, 9(2), 47–59. https://vectoral.org/index.php/QJETI/article/view/111