Improving Local Health Care

IMPROVING LOCAL HEALTH CARE

JaCinta Oglesbee

Strayer University

HSA 520: Health Information Systems

Aug 26, 2012

Dr. Retta Evans

1. Think back on the last time you accessed health care services in your community and make recommendations for incorporating unapplied telecommunications concepts that would have improved your visit. Provide specific examples to support your response.

Medical providers are increasingly employing health information technology to improve patient safety, quality of care and efficiencies. However, adoption of health information technology has remained slow in rural areas. The use of electronic medical records would have improved the visit to the health care provider. “Medical records are central to all patient care activities, whether maintained in paper format or electronically. However, the development of a completely electronic longitudinal health record remains an elusive goal”, (Austin, C. J., & Boxerman, S. B, pg.227).

Statewide initiatives for rural providers to expand use of interoperable electronic health records and health information technology should be put in place. And, it is important that new technology mandates be scalable. Incorporating Health Information Technology requires thorough and systematic planning involving key stakeholders, which can be time consuming. For rural providers, simply budgeting for time and staff to implement HIT can be very challenging since staffs often have both management and direct patient care responsibilities. Multiple strategies should be used to help rural providers plan and implement electronic health records (EHR).

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