Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)

A recent study finds that an electronic health record simulation was both enjoyable and effective at changing intern behavior.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan allocates $500 million to support modernization initiatives at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other technology provisions.

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has publicly stated on 17 February that it has completed its final stages of integration between South Australia Health’s Sunrise Electrical Medical Records (EMR) and patient administration system (PAS) to the country’s My Health Record (MHR). This will grant healthcare providers the access and ability to upload information directly onto the MHR platform. An embedded tab within the Sunrise EMR provides clinicians with access to MHR which creates a unified view of a patient’s interactions across the health care system. This contains shared health summaries from general practitioners, pathology and imaging reports as well as prescription information from a patient’s visit both within South Australia and interstate. WHY IT MATTERS By providing a more holistic view of the patient’s past medical records as well as information on any medical care that was previously administered, clinicians will be able to provide more personalised medical care which would potentially translate into better patient outcomes. As a result of this integration, hospital staffs are also more willing to use MHR due to the easy availability of information. Previous research conducted in Australia showed that there was one omitted medicine from the medication history among every two patients who were admitted. These could ultimately result in disastrous outcomes for the patient if a new caregiver were to take over and provide medical attention to the patient without being fully cognizant of the patient’s medical history. Being able to fully access the patient’s medical records would allow for them to provide more appropriate medical care and prevent such situations from occurring. THE LARGER TREND The demands and pressure put on healthcare organisations have been rising steadily over the years as we progress in this digital era. There has been a shift towards providing more patient-centred care as well as empowering patients. Patients are expecting more personalised medical care and want to be more involved in their own treatments and be kept in the loop about issues pertaining to their health. Through the integration of EMR and MHR, both medical experts, as well as patients, can have easier access to their medical history, allowing them to be more informed. ON THE RECORD “South Australian patients will now benefit from the improved handover of care as a result of access to information spanning their health journey and a reduction in user errors by having a solution that enforces patient context,” explained Cattermole, the CEO of Australian Digital Health Agency. “The transient nature of these patients, past history in human services guardianship, and limited trust in the system mean the records we have access to within the hospital and local health network only represent a fraction of their medical history. The MHR tab has created a single view of the patient’s encounters with different parts of the health care systems and networks in SA and Interstate” Tracie Nikolai, Associate Nurse Unit Manager and Clinical Documentation Specialist at Port Augusta Hospital elaborated.

The Tulsa-based hub provider has also slashed appointment no-shows by integrating Relatient patient-engagement technology with its Epic EHR.

As part of the slew of improvements that the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) will receive, more healthcare institutions within the country will also be brought on board to contribute to the NEHR. Majority of these security enhancements and upgrades will be expected to be completed by the end of this year. This involves both technical and process enhancements as well as a thorough external review which will be conducted independently. The contribution of patients’ electronic health records to the NEHR will also be mandated in the future. Such measures have been implemented following an unprecedented cyber-attack on SingHealth’s IT system. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic which has escalated globally, the upgrades of the NEHR system will also enable it to meet the requirements for COVID-19 vaccination display, reporting and alerts as well. Healthcare experts will also be able to have easy access to their patients’ COVID-19 test results as well as their existing medical conditions prior to the vaccination via the NEHR. THE LARGER TREND Cybersecurity statistics have indicated that there has been a huge increase in the number of occurrences of hacking as well as breached data from sources such as mobile devices as well as IoT devices which are becoming increasingly common in medical facilities.  A reported 68% of business leaders have also expressed their opinions that cybersecurity risks are increasing. As such, it is imperative for healthcare organizations to ramp up their efforts to strengthen their technical as well as security infrastructure within their systems in order to ensure that the sensitive healthcare data of patients remains secure.  ON THE RECORD “Data security remains a key priority” Dr. Puthucheary, the Senior Minister of State explained and that the NEHR system has also been a “key enabler” in facilitating the provision of medical care during this pandemic by serving as a repository of patients’ medical records.

"We should work toward a future state where all clinicians feel that their health IT is so essential to their practice that they cannot provide care without it."

Such attempts are up 580% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and healthcare is a major target, a new Crowdstrike report shows.

Also, data reveals surge in vaccine-related cyber-attacks.     

"We are no longer the scrappy underdog," said one employee. "Because we are an industry leader, it is our responsibility to get in front of issues that affect access to care and quality of care."