Electronic health records (EHRs), by streamlining how health care is provided,  can improve the efficiency of medical records and the quality of care (Jette, 2019). Clinical documentation needs to reflect and be consistent with the care provided (Jette, 2019). Tracking patient’s records and their care has improved the quality of care by reducing errors (Balestra, 2019).

Briefly describe the selected EHR software solutions. Include three features of each software in the description.

EPIC EHR

Epic is an electronic medical record that is a centralized solution for health care communication and documentation. It delivers and coordinates care through dedicated modules for many specialties, including hospitals, long-term care, labs, rehab, urgent care, and many more. This software offers many features, including but not limited to telehealth, analytics, and clinical.

Telehealth

Telehealth has a patient portal for patients to manage their care through electronic access to their healthcare information. They can schedule appointments, attend electronic telehealth visits, message their doctors, provide better health outcomes, and be accessible and available on tablets and phones. It also allows for monitoring patients in ICU, manages chronic diseases, has central deterioration monitoring, and allows case managers to manage care and coordinate discharge plans in acute care settings, hospitals, and rural settings.

Analytics

Analytics collects all the information that has been imputed and curates all the information at one point so that users can access it; it provides dashboards and reports that are utilized for benchmarking and quality improvement of patient care. Analytics allows the health care team to investigate through the built-in dashboards and quickly provide adequate care to the patient. The management of data allows for quick answers to complicated questions by combining the clinical data that has been inputted by care staff, allowing for quick decision-making.

Clinical

The clinical program is tailored to fit the organization’s needs, from workflow to the layout of screens. Clinical documentation, care planning, medications administration and orders, physician updates are at the fingertips of all staff.  Data inputted by the health care professionals are linked and streamlines to get patients healthier faster, connecting physicians through the web, mobile phones, and high other tech methods. The staff has access to one point of care date, real-time, allowing for quick response, solutions, and positive patient outcomes.

iCare Manager

iCare manager is software primarily used by assisted livings and small group homes for the elderly.  It focuses specifically on the elderly and their diagnosis and plan of care. It is a relatively new system focusing on the small providers of long-term healthcare. iCare is an electronic medical record that is a centralized electronic solution for assisted livings, providing documentation at one point that is accessible to other users within the same organization.  It delivers and coordinates care through dedicated modules specific to assisted livings. This software offers analytics, Emar, assessments, care tracker, clinical documentation, staff licensure, and staffing schedules.

EMAR

 Electronic medical records can coordinate all medications based on scheduled administration time, allow staff to sign medication administration, and send alerts to managers for any missed mediations, allowing for quick follow-up. It can set parameters, create a face-sheet with all patient demographics, including physician and pharmacy information.  Its clear screen display allows for streamlined medication administration by care staff and links with a pharmacy for accurate updates and changes with new medication orders.

Assessments

The assisted living completed routine and regular assessments on all residents based on health care regulations. iCare Manager has a component designed to meet the specific documentation requirement for delegating nurses and managers by health care regulatory requirements.

Care Tracker

Assisted Livings are required to track and document the ADLs of all the patients. Care tracker is a component of iCare, where care staff can log in and document all care provided daily. It can scan documents that can be integrated into the patient’s chart and easily accessible to the healthcare team. It tracks and sends alerts to the manager and delegating nurse any abnormal issues or concerns. For example, if a patient has not had a bowel movement for three days, an alert will be sent to quickly take the appropriate action, resulting in better patient outcomes.

All components of the iCare manager are integrated, allowing for access on mobile phones and pads. Physician, nursing team pharmacy all have access to one point allowing for seamless, efficient care and outcomes.

Compare and contrast the benefits of the two selected EHR software solutions.

EPIC and iCare are both web-based electronic health record software. Epic is aimed for use at hospitals and acute care settings; iCare is specific for assisted livings. Both have a good workflow and are easy to use; EPIC can be customized, iCare is not customizable. Epic provides a patient portal for patients to log in and manage their health care; iCare does not have a patient portal. Both allow providers to scan documents and save them in the patient’s portal, and both are easily accessible from mobile phones. Acute care and hospitals settings use EPIC, which has been around for some time and can meet their communication and documentation needs. iCare is relatively new and is still going through growing pains, but it is by far one of the best soft wares for small assisted livings with less than 16 residents. Both have issues related to web-based access. If power or connection is lost, it places the health care providers in the difficult position of trying to care without access to the patient portal and could increase errors.

Select an EHR software solution that is best suited for your workplace environment. Identify the workplace environment (hospital, stand-alone private practice, etc.) and provide your rationale for the selected software.

iCare is best suited for my care environment. As a small assisted living provider with 16 residents and low staff numbers, meeting the regulatory requirements can be challenging. iCare, with its user-friendly software, allows for easy documentation of assessments, care plans, nursing notes, and direct connectivity with pharmacy and physicians, makes it a cost-effective and user-friendly solution that meets our needs. The staff has direct access to EMAR for daily medication administration, and the caretaker tracks activities of daily living required by our regulatory board.  iCare sends alerts directly to mobile devices if medications are missed or omitted or any abnormal readings of vital signs, weights, bowel movements. Continued upgrades are needed to accommodate the changing needs of small assisted livings, according to Schopf et al. (2019), substantial development is required to improve the EHR to support patients’ health information for healthcare providers accurately. “An abundance of healthcare information can be managed through databases by using electronic medical records, and this makes data more easily shared between providers and organizations” (Kruse et al, 2018. p.14)

References

Balestar, M.L. (2019). Electronic health record: Patient care and ethical and legal implications for nurse practitioners. JNP. 13(2), 105-111

Jetté, N., & Kwon, C. (2019). Electronic Health Records—A system only as beneficial as Its data. JAMA. 2(9), DOI:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.11679

Kruse, C. S., Stein, A., Thomas, H., Kaur, H. (2018). The use of electronic health records to support population health: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Medical Systems, 42(11), 2-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-018-1075-6

Schopf, T.R., Nedrebø, B., Hufthammer, K.O., Daphu (Links to an external site.), I.K.,  Lærum (Links to an external site.), H. (2019). How well is the electronic health record supporting the clinical tasks of hospital physicians? A survey of physicians at three Norwegian hospitals. BMC Health Serv Res. 19(934). DOI: org/10.1186/s12913-019-4763-0

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