Assignment 3

Beaumont Hospitals in Michigan is utilizing an Electronic Health Record (EHR) keeping system to help improve patient care. According to beaumonthospitals.com, by using EHRs, physicians will have the ability to enter all orders onto the system rather than writing physician’s orders by hand. This will help reduce error caused by messy handwriting that is so stereotypical of doctors. Although the hospital has added an EHR system partially to receive funding from the government, it has participated with enthusiasm and has seen an improvement in patient care. In addition to the provisions required by the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to receive funding, the hospital plans to “optimize” their use of the system by analyzing current use and making changes where needed. The EHR system also includes a feature unique to Beaumont Hospitals called MyBeaumontChart in which patients can “access to their personal patient record. This allows them to see test results, schedule appointments, check payment balances, review immunization records and download patient education material related to their condition”.

The addition of an EHR system will dramatically improve patient care in hospitals, but there are a few things that developers and doctors should keep in mind. While alerts about dangerous drug interactions and allergies are extremely useful, they should be careful that the doctors do not see these alerts so often that they click through them without acknowledging them. Also, doctors should be aware that the system is not going to be infallible and when they are in doubt they should use their intuition and research further if needed. If doctors become too reliant on the system, they will lose their ability to think critically and identify faulty information.