Question

Imagine you are an administrator at a hospital that is considering the implementation of EHR. Some providers are for it while others argue against it. As an administrator, you are obligated to consider ethics concerns as well as appropriate resource allocation. Discuss the ethics concern that you must consider in this situation. Now, think about the investment costs of EHR. Which principles of ethics can you use to defend (or not) the investment required to implement EHR?

Answer 1

When health care providers have access to complete and accurate information, patients receive better medical care. Electronic health records (EHRs) can improve the ability to diagnose diseases and reduce—even prevent—medical errors, improving patient outcomes.

EHRs helps to

• Providing clinical alerts and reminders
• Improving aggregation, analysis, and communication of patient information
• Making it easier to consider all aspects of a patient’s condition
• Supporting diagnostic and therapeutic decision making
• Gathering all relevant information (lab results, etc.) in one place
• Support for therapeutic decisions
• Enabling evidence-based decisions at point of care
• Preventing adverse events
• Providing built-in safeguards against prescribing treatments that would result in adverse events
• Enhancing research and monitoring for improvements in clinical quality

Regarding investment costs of EHRs

Installing an EHR system has many benefits for providers. That includes both tangible effects, such as government incentive payments for EHR adoption and increases in efficiency, as well as benefits that are more difficult to measure, such as higher patient satisfaction and a competitive advantage over other providers.

Using electronic health records (EHRs) can help the organization build a sustainable medical practice. While EHRs do require investments for technology and training, a fully functional EHR system can lead to long-term savings in a variety of areas and better business. Studies have shown EHRs to generate a positive return on investment.

• Reduced Transcription Costs: If organization dictates notes, we can generate savings by limiting or eliminating transcription costs.
• Increased Productivity & Efficiency: Time savings with easier centralized chart management, condition-specific queries, electronic reception of lab results, and other shortcuts will help your organization see more patients and generate more revenue.
• Improved Medical Practice Management: EHR-enabled medical practice management systems can link appointments directly to progress notes, automate coding procedures, manage claims, and do much more to help the organization run smoothly and efficiently.
• Enhanced Communication: With an EHR, organization will be able to communicate more efficiently with patients, clinicians, labs, and health plans. The proper communication helps to maintain a long term relationship and thereby organization can achieve sustainable growth in profit.