Since the creation of the Internet in 1973, technology has developed rapidly (Emspak & Zimmermann, 2017). The question remains whether technology is heading in the right direction with new innovations. Susan Dentzer (2011) from Health Affairs believes that as technology got better, the quality of care looks even worse (p. 554). The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Electronic Health Record Government Incentive Program has caused the health care field to go into the digital world as they capture and document care provided to patients (van Terheyden, 2012). Chief Medical Information Officer for Nuance believes the idea of “unexpected possibilities will impact Electronic Health Records (E.H.R.’’s) ever-increasing flow of information and opinions will continue to impact technological growth” (van Terheyden, 2012). In the meantime, 64,000 members of the American Health Information Managements Association announce an industry summit to press for standard Electronic Health Records (E.H.R.’s) guidelines that discourage fraud and abuse (Schulte, 2012)
Main
Electronic Health Record (E.H.R.) Incentive Program provides up to a 5-year payout between $44,000–$63,750 per provider with proof of meaningful use (Kleaveland, 2010). As Holden (2010) mentioned, “these improvements will occur only if clinicians have access to key functions in Electronic Health Records (E.H.R.’s) and use them regularly (p. 159)” (Kleaveland, 2010). Electronic Health Records (E.H.R.’s) can make it easier to document and improve coding accuracy by using progress note templates. When one of the visitors is recorded, these templates record the expenses. Melas (2011) explained that when a “user’s perception that ICT technology is easy” (p. 559), it affects positively to their approach that it will be useful, which allows “actual intention to utilize that technology” (p. 559).
Medicare concluded that billing errors are worsening as healthcare providers switch to E.H.R.’s (Schulte, 2012). Practice fusion is an E.H.R. company that created a digital alert that prompted the provider when to recommend an opioid (Keefe, 2020). Practice fusion received a kickback from Pharma Cox., which caused providers to prompt physicians to recommend strong opioid painkillers (Keefe, 2020). Since the branding of Oxycontin in 1995, Oxycontin has generated over $30 billion in revenue (Keefe, 2020). In the United States, Medicare covers more than 49 million elderly and disabled people and spent more than $500 billion in 2011 (Schulte, 2012). Doctors process prescriptions electronically, eliminating the problem of handwriting and transcription errors. Quality care is improved by obtaining drug-specific information along with drug interactions that can cause allergies or overdose is provided through E.H.R.’s. Employees of the Office of Civil Rights enforce HIPAA rules to ensure physical and electronic communications, and to ensure the safe delivery, maintenance and reception of personal health information (Rouse, 2020).
Conclusion
There is a human error with or without technology. The difference is that with information systems, through data analysis, margin of error can be reduced. EHR could lead to fraud, which highlights the importance of setting up federal standards. Updating and creating laws and regulations is an ongoing process. Electronic medical records can improve quality care and provide safety to the organization. It also improves communication and clinical decision making. Conclusion (Revenue and Documentation). EHR can also increase revenue by entering complete notes in order to improve coding accuracy. As healthcare providers turn to EMRs, Medicare billing errors and abuse are getting worse. Industry’s Trade association believes there is significant progress and that widespread interoperability is within reach. Providing health education can enhance the visibility of a provider, making the patient feel more connected with the provider. Interacting with patients on social may violate barriers and professionals may impose fines and/or possible jail time. HIPAA rules ensure secure electronic communication, maintenance, and reception of personal health information. Independent writer Edward Tenner message when it comes to unintended consequences is that chaos happens, lets make better use of it.
References
Dentzer, S. (2011). Still crossing the quality chasm—or suspended over it? Health Affairs 30(4), 554-555. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0287
Dhagarra, D., Goswami, M., & Kumar, G. (2020). Impact of trust and privacy concerns on technology acceptance in healthcare: An Indian perspective. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 141(2020), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104164
Holden, R. J., & Karsh, B. T. (2010). The technology acceptance model: Its past and its future in health care. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 43(1), 159–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2009.07.002
Jacob, J. A. (2015). On the Road to Interoperability, Public and Private Organizations Work to Connect Health Care Data. American Medical Association., 314(12), 1213–1215.
Keefe, P. R., & Gessen, M. (2020, October 4). The Sackler family’s plan to keep its billions. New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-sackler-familys-plan-to-keep-its-billions
Kleaveland, B. (2010, December 20). ROI: The dollars and sense economic impact of an EHR. Physicians Practice. https://www.physicianspractice.com/view/roi-dollars-and-sense-economic-impact-ehr
Melas, C. D., Zampetakis, L. A., Dimopoulou, A., & Moustakis, V. (2011). Modeling the acceptance of clinical information systems among hospital medical staff: An extended TAM model. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 44(4), 553–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2011.01.009
Rouse, M. (2020). HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). SearchHealthIT. https://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/definition/HIPAA
Schulte, F. (2012, October 16). IMPACT: Administration official asks for Medicare billing review. The Center for Public Integrity.
https://publicintegrity.org/health/impact-administration-official-asks-for-medicare-billing-review/?utm_source=publicintegrity.
Tenner, Edward (2011, March). Unintended Consequences [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.ted.com/talks/edward_tenner_unintended_consequences?utm_campaign=tedspread&ut m_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
van Terheyden, N. (2012). EHRs and meaningful use: Unintended consequences, unexpected possibilities. EHR Intelligence.
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/ehrs-and-meaningful-use-unintended-consequences-unexpected-possibilities
Zimmermann, K. A., & Emspak, J. (2017, June 27). Internet history timeline: ARPANET to the world wide web. Live Science.
https://www.livescience.com/20727-internet-history.html