TY - JOUR
T1 - Electronic medical record
T2 - A balancing act of patient safety, privacy and health care delivery
AU - Gummadi, Sriharsha
AU - Housri, Nadine
AU - Zimmers, Teresa A.
AU - Koniaris, Leonidas G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by 1 R24 HS019658 Expansion Research Capability to Study Comparative Effectiveness in Complex Patients.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - With almost $35 billion appropriated in government incentives and additional funds spent in development by institutions, the concept of an electronic patient record (EPR) within integrated health information technology (HIT) systems has taken the United States by storm. However, the United Kingdom's expensive struggle to implement a seamless EPR highlights the variety of pitfalls and unforeseen complications ranging from recognizing the importance of accurately assessing EPR-related patient risks to understanding the difficulties in the exchange of information across a gradient of distinct interfaces. Furthermore, the tenuous relationship between HIT implementation and patient outcomes in the short-term draws into question the value of EPR construction costs along with the ethical and privacy issues they create. Nonetheless, experts agree that with future software advances and physician familiarization, a robust HIT will be an important asset to patient autonomy, epidemiologic and clinical research, evidence-based error reduction and the potential for cost reduction. This article seeks to review the current status of this initiative and potential pitfalls that remain.
AB - With almost $35 billion appropriated in government incentives and additional funds spent in development by institutions, the concept of an electronic patient record (EPR) within integrated health information technology (HIT) systems has taken the United States by storm. However, the United Kingdom's expensive struggle to implement a seamless EPR highlights the variety of pitfalls and unforeseen complications ranging from recognizing the importance of accurately assessing EPR-related patient risks to understanding the difficulties in the exchange of information across a gradient of distinct interfaces. Furthermore, the tenuous relationship between HIT implementation and patient outcomes in the short-term draws into question the value of EPR construction costs along with the ethical and privacy issues they create. Nonetheless, experts agree that with future software advances and physician familiarization, a robust HIT will be an important asset to patient autonomy, epidemiologic and clinical research, evidence-based error reduction and the potential for cost reduction. This article seeks to review the current status of this initiative and potential pitfalls that remain.
KW - Electronic health care privacy
KW - Electronic medical record
KW - Health information technology
KW - Outcomes research
KW - Safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907803172&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84907803172&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000287
DO - 10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000287
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24879530
AN - SCOPUS:84907803172
SN - 0002-9629
VL - 348
SP - 238
EP - 243
JO - American Journal of the Medical Sciences
JF - American Journal of the Medical Sciences
IS - 3
ER -