Part 1
My post
Hello class and Professor,
The advent of the technological era has been linked to improved patient outcomes. Most of the technologies in place are patient-centered and are aimed at improving the quality of care and service delivery. At the facility I work for, there are several technologies in place. The most recent is the point of care technology. As much as this technology is in its initial stages of implementation, the benefits have had profound effects on the operations of nursing. This technology allows nurses to access patient data such as X-rays and medication directly from the bedside. This is achieved through linked computers placed at the bedside of patients to ensure that their records can easily be accessed (Adam, 2017).
Considering that the facility has not yet adopted electronic health records, the point of care technology comes with great significance to the hospital. Through the technology, time is saved which would have otherwise been used to access the documents physically. This also allows for easier update of the patient information ensuring that they stay up to date. Point of care technology also ensures that nursing practice focuses on patient-centered care (Adam, 2017). This means that the patient is engaged in making decisions, follow-ups, and education to better their health.
The facility should, however, consider the importance of implementing electronic health records to complement the point of care technology. With electronic records coupled with this technology, nurses will have diverse alert systems such as mobile phones and tablets to ensure that they can access patient data away from the bedside.
Part2
Professor Comments and question
It is really interesting that your organization has not implemented the electronic health record (EHR). The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 provided $35 billion dollars for organizations to implement electronic health records. The incentive did not cover the entire costs of implementation to organizations, but are mandatory to meet the requirements for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, or MIPS which will start in 2019. Do you think the organization will change to the EHR in the near future?
References
Schwartz, S. (2016). Defensive medicine versus value-based care. Medical Economics. Retrieved from: http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/defensive-medicine-versus-value-based-care?page=0,0
Part 3/another students comments and question
I found your topic very interesting. Prior to working on the PCU unit at a hospital, my last employer was just in the process of implementing EMR. They were actually using paper charts. It is interesting that some health care organizations are behind when it comes to information technology. Do you think that this could be due to cost? I think cost was the major reason as to why my prior employer was slow to using EMR.
