Future of Electronic Health Records, Essay Example

Nursing information systems are utilized to support a comprehensive and integrated care and treatment environment for patients. For example, electronic health records are designed to support the collection of information that will improve the lives of patients and promote greater convenience. For advanced practice nurses, these tools are likely to have a lasting impact on patients because they reflect a need to further examine the diagnostic tests, treatment options, and course of therapy for patients in order to improve their health over the long term. This is likely to translate into a more practical and personalized approach to patient care and treatment, whereby advanced practice nurses are at the forefront of this process (Rothman, Leonard, & Vigoda, 2012). It is expected that the electronic health record will support a dialogue between nurse and patient that will translate into effective care and treatment at the highest possible level for patients.

From the patient perspective, it is important to be proactive in facilitating an advanced practice solution that will translate into positive outcomes and support the advanced practice learning curve (Dowding, Turley, & Garrido, 2012). These practices also reflect a need to understand the dynamics of care and to recognize the importance of accuracy in the electronic health record to protect patients from unnecessary risk or harm and to maximize patient safety. Advanced practice nurses must recognize their responsibility to monitor the accuracy of electronic health records and to address the value of improving outcomes for patients through protocol development and strategies to improve care and treatment. In addition, education regarding the electronic health record will benefit patients over the long term and provide them with access to their health record without delays, thereby increasing the overall potential for improved health and wellbeing for patients throughout the course of their care and treatment strategies.

References

Dowding, D. W., Turley, M., & Garrido, T. (2012). The impact of an electronic health record on nurse sensitive patient outcomes: an interrupted time series analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 19(4), 615-620.

Rothman, B., Leonard, J. C., & Vigoda, M. M. (2012). Future of electronic health records: implications for decision support. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine: A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine, 79(6), 757-768.