Question

As stated in the textbook “In this era of employers, government, and insurance plans asking patients to take a much more active role in their healthcare, the PHR is a natural response to this need.”

In a separate section, make sure to address the points below and in APA format. Include 2-3 APA citations from scholarly sources;

Discuss common concerns about security breaches in electronic health records and the role HITECH plays in helping to keep protected health information secure.

Research the use of electronic health records and personal health records to determine how they are different or similar and if and how they are protected by HIPAA standards.

Explain the concept of Meaningful Use.

Discuss each of the five intended outcomes of compliance with EHR programs:

• Better clinical outcomes

• Improved population health

• Increased transparency and efficiency due to the accessibility of records.

• Empowered individuals

• More robust research data

Answer 1

Answer: Electronic health records (EHRs) provide access to complete and accurate information. EHRs improves the ability to diagnose diseases and reduce medical errors. However, there are increased observed security breaches in EHRs. Computer networks have a growing number of threats. There is leakage in the information and stealing of database contents. About half of the United States populations have compromised EHRs.

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 helps to protect health information. HITECH encourage widespread use of EHRs and ensures certified technology.

Personal health records can be kept in paper or digital form. If the personal health records are kept in digital form, then it is the electronic health record. EHRs are quick to access and there is a lesser chance of data missing. EHRs provide complete lists at a time in a single platform. HIPAA is a set of standards introduced by the United States Congress in 1996 to protect and maintain the privacy of health information.

EHRs provides information that enhances clinical procedures. It provides better health care. EHRs provides a lot of information at the population scale that is important for a better conclusion of disease prevalence, cause and treatment. Since the data are in digital form, there is transparency and easy accessibility. It empowers every authorised health worker to access information necessary for health care. Since the data in digital form are usually highly ordered, they are useful for medical research.