post to agree/disagree on EMRs
In my experience within the healthcare community, the most prevalent used technology is the electronic health care system (EHR). Within my healthcare facility we use Epic, but there are far more EHR systems available for use such as Meditech, Cerner, Allscripts, NextGen, Athena Health, etc. The health information computed includes demographics, medical and nursing diagnoses, medication list, allergies, lab test results, consents, care directives and nursing assessments shared among all members of the multidisciplinary team and the patient themselves (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). With the adoption of technology into the healthcare system there are many added benefits that continue to contribute to the advancement of healthcare.
Epic provides us with a plethora of other useful technologies such as patient portals. Patient health portals promote patient involvement in care, giving them a sense of empowerment in their care. These portals promote a sense of higher satisfaction in care. Patients have access to their laboratory tests in real time as well as the ability to read the healthcare team’s notes written throughout their hospital stay. Some patient portals in the outpatient community give the patient the ability to directly contact their provider via a messaging system, allowing for medication and health-related questions.
Potential challenges and inherent risks involved in the use of these technologies include increasing health disparities among those who do not have digital access or the education to health literacy tools. The lack of access to patient portals and mobile health technologies has a direct impact on a patient’s health potential. This unequal access is also affected by older age, lower income, lack of education and ethnic minorities, proven to be a major social determinant of health (Sharma & Patten, 2022). National efforts have implemented programs to subsidize the cost of internet access and smartphones for those who are low-income, all with the idea that equipping a person with this access is drastically lower in cost than treating health conditions (Sieck et al., 2021).
A benefit associated with patient care portals is the push for patients to be more involved and autonomous in their care. With the use of digital health portals and the ability to communicate with providers, there has been an increase in outpatient visits and a decrease in emergency room visits, reducing hospital admissions overall (Carini et al., 2021). The decrease is driven by the access to communicate with the provider, available health education, and proactive help. Patient portals also provide reminders for upcoming appointments, reducing missed outpatient appointments. Potential risks associated with the use includes the aforementioned lack of digital health access. There has also been a negative correlation between patient portal use amongst the mental health population including those with schizophrenia. Other barriers include security concerns, limited education, disinterest and negative experiences (Carini et al., 2021). More data of course points toward the positive effect that patient digital access has.
A healthcare technology trend that seems to be the most promising for impacting healthcare technology in nursing practice is telehealth. Telehealth and tele-nurses can provide education, patient monitoring and counseling (Darvish et al., 2014). Telehealth increases the availability of healthcare staff, lessening the burden of staffing shortages. A large barrier to healthcare is the lack of time for patients to be seen, but with telehealth the patient can be seen regardless of location. It can also help with triaging patients, lessening the burden on the highly populated emergency departments. The increase in patient involvement gives the patient a sense of power in their own healthcare and can influence their lifestyle encouraging them to enhance their self-care behaviors and disease prevention (Darvish, et al., 2014). There are instances where a face-to-face interaction is required where the medical staff can form physical assessments, but many concerns can be addressed via telehealth, making this technology trend promising for the future of healthcare and patient outcomes
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