Assignment – As Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

  

Assignment R
As Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have become more widely deployed in the past 10 years, evidence is mounting that their potential benefits are not being fully realized. On the one hand, documentation from over 75 Davies Award recipients over the past 25 years shows that numerous organizations have successfully deployed EHRs, and have documented significant clinical, financial, and quality benefits. See https://www.himss.org/library/davies-awards for examples.
 
 
 
On the other hand, a number of studies and articles from a wide variety of sources have illustrated that not nearly all organizations deploying EHRs have realized those benefits. In fact, many organizations report just the opposite outcome – more cumbersome processes, higher costs, and increased risk of errors. Sources ranging from Fortune Magazine (example: http://fortune.com/longform/medical-records/) to MedStar Health’s National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare https://www.medicalhumanfactors.net/ have illustrated problems that are rampant in the industry due to factors caused in whole or in part by deployment of EHRs.
 
 
 
The Federal Government, through the Stimulus Act, has invested over $36 billion in EHRs over the past decade, and is increasingly interested in the question of what to do about the current state of affairs. It is likely that this question will receive significant attention in the months and years ahead.
 
 
 
Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to conduct an analysis of the current EHR environment, provide a statement of current progress and problems, and to recommend a path forward. Your work should be well-documented, and should cite a variety of sources, both in favor of and opposed to the continued or expanded use of EHRs. There is no preconceived right or wrong answer to the question of what to do next, but you should make sure that your analysis and recommendations are based on facts and data, rather than just opinion.
 
 
 
Papers should be 4 pages in length, should be written in a professional style, be well documented, and should conclude with a specific recommendation for action.