Concerns on the Dimension of Time
Meaningful Use (MU) as an incentive for electronic health records (EHR) is a major initiative that will revolutionize the healthcare sector. Concerns about time in implementing this program amongst the providers arise (Shea et al., 2014). Some providers assert that the implementation of the EHR is bound to divert valuable time from crucial aspects of patient care, amounting to an error in practice. Setting up the EHR is also likely to alter normal practices hence time mismanagement during the initial stages.
Relationship between Predictors of Readiness and the Willingness to Change by Providers
Nurses, in general, were more open to the idea of embracing EHR than doctors, reflecting the impact of the role they performed within the healthcare setting. Amongst doctors, it was felt that embracing EHR would make significant changes to their duties’ performance, an uncomfortable alteration. Providers working in specialty settings showed less willingness to embrace MU than their counterparts in the primary care settings. The specialty providers felt that MU would divert attention from other patient-care priorities.
Limitation of the Study
One important limitation of the study is the possibility of bias if there are systematic differences in perceptions among those who participated and those who did not. Characteristics of responders and non-responders were not assessed and could potentially impact the type of participants involved in the study. If the participants had been analyzed to identify systematic similarities and differences, adjustments would have been made to ensure that the results reflect these differences. This bias means that the study results cannot be considered accurate as this factor was not factored in the final analysis of results.
Electronic Health Records
Patient’s Care Trajectory Meaning and Importance
A patient’s trajectory through the healthcare system refers to a patient’s sequence of contacts with care providers. It follows the patient’s progression from the emergency department at the first time of contact to other healthcare settings or departments (Kuwornu et al., 2016). These trajectories affect resource use and healthcare outcomes for the patient and enable the construction of care trajectories for entire populations. Patients whose trajectory involve more healthcare settings are likely to utilize more financial and human resource than those who use less. A repeated pattern of trajectories for patients with similar clinical presentations may offer generalizations for care practices hence comprehensive care for a certain condition.
Administrative Data
Administrative data refers to information generated at every encounter with the healthcare system. It covers all aspects of the healthcare system, including a physician’s office visit, a diagnostic procedure, hospital admission, and prescription receipt (Pine, 2019). The administrative data used for the study was information from the point of first contact in the emergency department to other healthcare settings. From the emergency department, progressions included referrals to provincial teaching hospitals and discharge (Kasten, 2020). Some were discharged and went home, while others were transferred to other healthcare facilities while others died.
Major Findings of Study and Implications for Nursing
The majority of the patients who presented to the emergency department were eventually discharged and went home. This shows the impact of this department on medical practice in general. The emergency department is of utmost importance to the medical field and deserves adequate staffing to ensure that the number of conditions handled at that level can be improved (Kuwornu et al., 2016). Handling most conditions at the emergency department requires optimal nursing staff for better operation.
Legal Issues, Federal Regulations, and the Accreditation Process
Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI) Definition and Aim
ANI refers to the collaboration of several groups representing thousands of nurse informatics and 25 different nursing informatics organizations internationally. ANI progresses nursing informatics governance, practice, training, strategy, and study through a united voice of nursing informatics groups (Collins et al., 2016). ANI works with more than 4 million nurses in practice to achieve its mandate. ANI aims to transform health and healthcare through nursing informatics. With changes in healthcare practice occurring rapidly, nursing informatics must stay at the top of it. ANI can influence the changes in healthcare in general by directly making the changes or collaborating with other organizations.
ANI Dilemma and Response
The dilemma arose from CMS IMPACT Act Quality Measures that sought ANI’s input on the matter. The transfer of medication profile to the patient was of particular attention and immense spiked interest (Alliance for Nursing Informatics, 2018). Whether the transfer of medication profile to the patient was appropriate and whether the terms of this transfer were well defined was also of interest. ANI’s response expressed concern on whether the studies on medication transfer to patients considered the patient’s perspective in the research phase. The wording in the medication transfer was also of interest and whether it denoted it in wording comprehensible for the patients.
ANI on Patient Safety
ANI affirms that patient safety is a crucial aspect of healthcare in general, and all healthcare practitioners have a role in ensuring this. Patient safety entails ensuring that healthcare practices do not endanger the health of the patients. The benefits accrued from risky healthcare practices should outweigh the risks associated with them. Additionally, the role of nurses is paramount given the immense association and impact they have with the patients.
References
Alliance for Nursing Informatics. ANI CMS impact act response medication profile transferred measures May 2018-final. Web.
Collins, S., Sensmeier, J., Weaver, C., & Murphy, J. (2016). Speaking with one voice. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 34(11), 490–492. Web.
Kasten, J. E. (2020). Big data applications in healthcare administration. International Journal of Big Data and Analytics in Healthcare, 5(2), 12–37. Web.
Kuwornu, J. P., Lix, L. M., Quail, J. M., Wang, X. E., Osman, M., & Teare, G. F. (2016). Measuring care trajectories using health administrative databases: A population-based investigation of transitions from emergency to acute care. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1). Web.
Pine, K. H. (2019). The qualitative dimension of healthcare data interoperability. Health Informatics Journal, 25(3), 536–548. Web.
Shea, C. M., Reiter, K. L., Weaver, M. A., McIntyre, M., Mose, J., Thornhill, J., Malone, R., & Weiner, B. J. (2014). Stage 1 of the meaningful use incentive program for electronic health records: a study of readiness for change in ambulatory practice settings in one integrated delivery system. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 14(1). Web.