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Will the Paperless Transition put Patient Safety at Risk?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided financial incentives to not only employ Electronic Medical Records (EMR) technology but also to eventually become completely paperless by the end of 2014. nike air max goedkoop South Carolina Gamecocks While significant numbers of healthcare institutes are embracing the technology, EMR limited capabilities have been a concern to healthcare providers, mostly in patient safety and in notable area such as critical care environments.

Intensive Care Units (ICUs) do make use of EMR solutions in order to meet Meaningful Use requirements; however, they also run parallel paper systems. Nike Air Max 1 Heren nike air max pas cher The question is why, and with current EMR vendor’s payday loans direct solutions, will they be able to do so without putting patient safety at risk?

The intention of eliminating paper is laudable. Derrick Henry Jersey Hogan Uomo Prezzi 2017 In a recent study,* paper got a failing grade in two important areas: paper resulted in inefficiency that often sidetracked patient care, and reimbursements were delayed. Adidas ZX 10000 Heren Nike Hurley Nike Air Max 2016 Heren blauw This same study also quantified the cost of paper inefficiency:

It costs $20 in labor to find a document; $120 if the document was misfiled.
The average document is copied 9-11 times at a cost of $18 a copy.
So why is it that paper documents are still widely preferred* in general and specifically in ICUs? Paper has been around healthcare along with healthcare providers’ workflows in support of medical diagnosis. new balance 737 damskie Doudoune Parajumpers Homme EMR puts patient medical data in electronic form; however, EMR disrupts the current workflow designed from paper as well as does not fill in all the gaps needed to represent patient medical data in an informative approach in support of patient medical diagnosis.

The chief complaint about EMR systems is usability – it creates a 20% overhead for caregivers* who lament spending more time with the computer than with their patients. Arizona State Sun Devils Jerseys South Carolina Gamecocks Jerseys It isn’t surprising then that 45-50% of EMR users are dissatisfied. New Balance 420 hombre GS Air Jordan 9 Canotta Sacramento Kings But, this goes beyond dissatisfaction.

A study by Jeffry Gold, et al., entitled, Use of Simulation to assess electronic health record safety in the intensive care unit: a pilot study explores the potential risks of going paperless.

In his study, he created an electronic baseline 5-day case history for a fictitious ICU patient for which there were 14 medical issues that needed to be recognized. Air Jordan Spike 38 healthcare providers participated in the study – a mix of 9 interns, 10 residents and 19 fellows. adidas yeezy boost 550 hombre Fjallraven Kanken Classic The bottom line results were an average error rate of 60%. Purdue Boilermakers fjallraven kanken mini (enfants) 7 L Gold is researching how to improve a caregiver’s performance (e.g. cheap adidas uk Boise State Broncos Jerseys improved training), but is the better question: how do EMR vendors’ user interfaces need to evolve to meet the demands of ICUs in a paperless world?

The concerns being raised by healthcare providers and research publications pertaining to the collection, access and display of patient data are increasing. nike air max 2017 femme noir Soldes Fjallraven Kanken The frustrations being expressed by physicians who are on the front lines of EMR adoption are frequently not being addressed due to the complexity, cost, interoperability and adaptability of these systems. adidas hamburg homme

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  • These concerns and problems present opportunities for innovators to develop technology to support, extend, connect and enhance how healthcare providers and health systems operate today.

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