¶ … Electronic Health Records (EHR)
Description: The legislation
Over the past fifty years, Electronic Health Records or EHRs have quickly transformed just like all other technologies in computing. The pace of these transformations has seen more acceleration since the promulgation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Health Act, or HITECH, in January 2009. This was a $30 billion attempt to transform the delivery of healthcare in the United States through greater application of EHR technology. EHR incentive program stipulations, and insistence on meaningful use, have largely assisted in creating more homogeneity in the primary functions of EHR. This uniformity of design has been spreading across systems much more rapidly than could otherwise have been envisaged. However, technological advancements do not solely determine the direction of innovations in EHR. The pace and type of change is impacted by other factors such as "Accountable Care" programs and organizations, business drivers and legal requirements. While the EHR system design and industry as a whole have been changed fundamentally by meaningful application, the main drivers for changes in the future will be these other factors (Tripathi, 2012).
Work on health information technology by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is authorized by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The ONC was established in law by the HITECH Act. This gives the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States (U.S.) the power to initiate programs for the improvement of health care safety, efficiency, and quality. One approach to this goal is by promoting health IT, including secure information exchange on electronic health records (HealthIT.gov, 2014).
Definition of the problem intended to be solved by legislation/policy
The whole idea of reform on health care as contained in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rests on the collection, generation, and information sharing enabled by the focused healthcare technology advancements, particularly with respect to computerized technology of health care information or HIT. The success of several goals of ACA such as effective treatment protocols, curbing hospital readmission, encouraging the development of Accountable Care Organizations and comparative research to produce effectiveness in cost-efficiency are dependent on the widespread adoption of digitized information across the entire system. Several stipulations of ACA contained in the implementation of HIT to aid savings on cost were initially envisaged when the likelihood of transactions through computerized records were seen at the beginning of the 1990s. Even so, expectations in the implementations of HIT over the last two decades have been met by obstacles from other quarters. This may be an indication that any future outcomes in reducing the cost of health care will not be smooth or automatic (Friedman, Parrish & Ross, 2013).
The contributions that EHRs potentially have on the public and population health on the one hand and clinical care on the other were earmarked to improve population health in the U.S. The need to obtain important information from EHRs and a plan to address these needs came with the realization that this potential would entail an understanding of what EHRs would realistically provide in the improvement of population health. The potential contributions EHRs have on the improvement of population health take on board clear understanding of the distribution and degree of function and disease within populations. These requirements embrace standardized EHR reporting methods and content, enough legal permission for applying EHRs especially for population health and improved population coverage. A national effort that is collaborative is needed to address the most immediate barriers and prerequisites for the application of EHRs for the improvement of population health so that the full potential of EHRs can be realized (Friedman, Parrish & Ross, 2013).
National legal health stipulations allowing, though not compelling, entities that are covered to transmit health information that are individually identifiable from health care transactions and EHRs to public health authorities was established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy Rule). The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 established funding for sharing specified EHR data with public health authorities while the Privacy Rule established national legal authority for sharing EHR data for particular purposes of public health. Medicaid and Medicare penalties and incentive payments for specified meaningful applications of EHRs are provided for by the EHR Incentive Program mandated under HITECH (Friedman, Parrish &...
Electronic Health Records Since the introduction of electronic health records, the U.S. government, information systems developers and associations of healthcare providers have worked toward establishing a uniform, integrated system of electronic health records. This collaboration is designed to significantly enhance patient safety and treatment, as well as effectively assist in the management of public health issues such as disease. While some health practitioners report difficulties in dealing with electronic health records,
Electronic Health Records The advent of technology has had an impact on almost every facet of our lives. Today, thanks to technology, the maintenance of patient records is becoming increasingly easy and efficient. In this text, I will concern myself with electronic health records (EHR). In so doing, I will amongst other things take into consideration the effect of EHRs on health care and the implications of adopting this technology from
Health Systems Management and Electronic Health Records Healthcare is an essential factor or tool in relation to the American society. The society of America has no national socialized healthcare system. In this research paper, the focus will be on the Medicare healthcare system in the context of the United States. The paper will focus on illustration of the concepts of the Medicare healthcare system, various management challenges, problems, and opportunities in
There may be specific circumstances for specific customers where these substitute options become more attractive, but as a whole, they exert little threat. 2. Barriers to Entry. Barriers to entry are modest. There are no significant technologies to acquire or license, no research and development investment, or expensive equipment needed. Existing firms do not possess patents that prevent other entrants from operating effectively. Some companies may choose to invest in more
). On the other hand, this asset liability matching [provoked] a move into bonds which, coupled with the low-interest rate environment, [meant] that pension funds [were] are also been forced to think harder about how to generate return." (6). As a result, many pension funds, including many of those of non-profit companies that in the form of Defined Benefit plans, moved away from holding traditional equity portfolios. As Stewart explains, "[r]ather than
However, with natural gas, production takes a long lead time -- drillers and processers cannot increase production capacity quickly to meet increased market demand, thus increased demand will start the price rising and keep it rising for a period of time until eventually supply catches up, or other market factors (such as a warm winter that reduces demand for heating gas) influence the price. Overall, prices for natural gas
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now