Electronic Medical Records

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Electronic Medical Records 1 Running Head: EMR’S AND NURSING EFFICIENCY Electronic Medical Records and Nursing Efficiency Fatuma Abdullahi, Phuong Doan, Cheryl Edwards, June Kim, and Lori Thompson July 22, 2009 HSM 5003 Management of Health Service Organizations Texas Woman’s University Electronic Medical Records 2 Introduction Across our nation healthcare organizations are beginning to implement electronic medical records. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are computerized medical records that are taking the place of paper medical records, which have been the standard of clinical documentation for centuries. The advantages of an EMR are many, such as the consolidation of patient medical information into a single record across the healthcare continuum (Robles, 2009). Further, evidence demonstrates that EMRs improve the quality of patient care by improving legibility, enhancing communication among caregivers, decreasing medication errors and improving clinical work flows as well as billing processes (Robles, 2009). In addition to improving quality, evidence also supports that EMRs save physicians time and reduce costs for ambulatory practices (O’Neill, 2007). As more organizations begin to utilize EMRs, questions regarding its impact on the efficiency of nursing arise. Do managers perceive that electronic medical records save their nurses time? Justification The futurists identified several emerging trends about the state of health in the twentyfirst century (National Center for Healthcare Leadership, 2005). The United States will become part of a global system focusing on wellness and preventive care worldwide; providing patient care via “virtual” centers of excellence around the world. Standard diagnostic care will become largely electronic allowing worldwide access and enabling globalization of the healthcare economy (Microsoft, n.d.). If medical services
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