Question

Please discuss and evaluate the impacts and relationships between meaningful use objectives, HL7, the Joint Commission, and EMR systems.

Be sure to include strengths and weaknesses of each system as it impacts healthcare costs, quality, and access from two perspectives:

• Patient;
• Healthcare organization of your choice (hospital, skilled nursing facility, etc.).

The strengths and weaknesses of each system (regarding cost, quality, and access) should be based on your knowledge of business practices, ethical considerations, and research/evidence-based practices.

If you could explain in a few paragraphs that would be great, just enough for me to add more information into a paper. Thanks.

Answer 1

All four systems are focus towards maintaining quality in patient care records and patient care.Collecting clinical data, processing data for advanced patient care, improving efficacy in health care system, reducing legal liabilities  and availability of data for Medicaid, epidemiological survey at government level.

Meaningful use objectives

Meaningful objectives is a system formulated by a federal government with the aim to collect clinical data in an meaningful manner, exchange of data between health providers, health provider and patients and insurer. In this system multiple doctors write notes about client condition. It helps to provide quality patient care by integrating clinical decision making. It leads to efficiency within health sector and  patient safety and decreasing health disparities.

Advantages of Electronic Health Record

• EHR provides complete and accurate information
• Easy to retrieve information / easy to access.
• Patient involvement.

Disadvantages :

• Data security and  transfer - privacy violence is a major concern.
• financial issues in purchasing and maintaining electronic health record system
• Loss of productivity due to system failure and hacking
• Increased chance of malpractice, medical negligence, data theft.

HL7

HL7 or Health level seven 7 is developed by a International standards organization. It consist of set of seven standards aimed to exchange clinical data and administrative data through software system between various health care providers in an organized manner. It will reduce health care disparities, especially in geographically isolated areas.

Seven standards are:

1. Physical link- system 2. network link- wireless network 3.Network and 4. transport- exchanging reliable data between two computers 5. session- receiving ,controlling and establishing dialogues, here, the particular session terminated 6. Presentation- data conversion and encryption, 7. Application- Retrieve data from the computer in the form of email, EHR etc.

Advantages

• Easy communication between the system
• Fast sharing of information enables formulation of electronic health records and national health information network.
• Improves quality patient care system and reduce health care disparities
• Fast decision making is possible in critical situation.

Disadvantages

• - patient accessibility to data is not possible
• - system failure, negligence, lack of confidentiality in patients data.

The Joint Commission

The Joint commission works to improve quality patients care by providing advices, conducting periodic inspection, accreditation and certification, education. It is a non profitable, independent organization. Set of quality standards are developed against which the hospital or health care organizational services are evaluated and graded accordingly. The highest priority of JC is quality patient care.

Advantages

• Patient can assure quality care, because the hospital should maintain quality standards
• Self efficacy within the organization improved.
• Documentation systems are well formulated.
• JC look for zero percent error, hence less chance of legal liabilities and medical negligence.

Disadvantages

• Institution may reduce quality and provisions after getting Accreditation
• Health care cost may be high  

EMR systems

Electronic Medical Record is a digital version of patient health information. It is created, gathered information are entered and managed by the health worker like authorized clinician or staff working in the hospital or clinic. Patient's information are readily available for reference and to take clinical decision making. It improves patients care, reduce wastage of time.

Advantages

• Productivity, self satisfaction and customer satisfaction are high
• Less chance for public accessibility. because are data are secured by password or patient ID
• remote reference is possible

Disadvantages

• EMR should be updated,
• Patient cant access.
• System failure, hacking information, network failure
• financial burden

Conclusion

Meaningful objectives are aimed to provide quality patient care by exchanging patient's health information , mainly used for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. Health  Level 7, set of standards made by ISO, to exchange health data and administrative data, to maintain quality patient care and reduce health care disparities. Joint commission conducts, periodic inspection and do accreditation to ensure patient care standards.EMR are digital form of patient's health record, in this client information are recorded. It served as a ready reference, for the authorized clinician and other staff working in unit or hospital.