Free Essay Example: Process Map

Manual management of medical data can lead to various mishaps. As such, healthcare facilities are advised to implement Electronic Healthcare Records (EHRs) in their operations. Majorly, the process can enable hospital management to achieve patient-centered care by providing quality services and saving more time to save a relatively larger number of lives. However, in a healthcare facility that wishes to employ the system for the first time, poor development of the process map may lead to its failure. BT Healthcare ought to establish a thoughtful process mapping indicating all the actions, decisions, and personnel needed.

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Process

Currently, BT Healthcare offers basic clinical services. However, it has currently registered rapid growth, thus calling for more innovations. Initially, it started with three facilitators who have risen to twenty, as the current statistics indicate. As a result, the number of patients checking in daily has increased. The increment has led to difficulties in managing patient information manually, as it has been the culture of the organization. The intervention that would salvage the situation and enable the facility to attain its vision would be the introduction of EHRs. Figuratively, the system would oversee accurate, dated, complete data regarding the patient's health. As such, retrieval of data would be easy, and security guaranteed (Kshetri, 2018). In healthcare facilities, time consciousness is a major element that determines effective performance. Relatively, introducing the system in the facility would contribute towards time management, as it facilitates easier retrieval of data and ultimate success in prescription.

Losing one or more information record sheets is common in the hospital routine. After all, the same record can be consulted and supplemented several times a day and by several professionals. Loss of information disrupts the shift, creates rework for staff - who will need to rewrite the data - and often precludes a more complete and quicker view of the patient's condition, such as when exams are lost and need to be redone (Adler-Milstein et al., 2015). The electronic medical record, in turn, eliminates rework, inhibits data loss, and facilitates internal communication between healthcare professionals accompanying a patient, as records are stored in secure and backed-up systems.

Collaborating, updating, or performing any activity concurrently with the work of another health professional is impractical when the medical record is not electronic. By adopting this technology, it is possible for nurses, assistants, technicians, physicians, and other health professionals to work simultaneously or collaboratively to care for patients or to update their medical records. Another disadvantage of using paper is the difficulty in reading handwritten information (Blijleven et al., 2017). It is not easy to decipher a professional's handwriting, and this may frustrate a patient. This situation is not only embarrassing, but it also generates unproductivity and risk of a patient not receiving the prescribed treatment because of manual registration. The electronic medical record eliminates this disadvantage.

In times of urgency, searching for information that is stored in a physical document can become a problem. It takes time to locate the medical record folder, plus the time spent searching for information that is essential for proper patient care. In emergencies, it is not uncommon for medical staff to ignore patient history, given the obstacles in searching for basic information (Kruse et al., 2015). Using the electronic medical record, attendants and medical staff can gain access to patient information within seconds and can tailor procedures to that person's specific needs and restrictions.

EPR also enhances patient safety. EPR, as a clinical intelligence tool, can assist in patient safety. This is because the solution can help personalize care by pointing out possible allergies and thus avoiding the use of certain medications. For example, during an appointment, the doctor can retrieve accurate patient data to guide treatment as the condition progresses. Technicians and nurses can avoid prescribing drugs that have already caused allergies and other reactions.

Normally, BT Healthcare refers to fatal cases to more advanced hospitals, which takes much time due to the manual system. However, with the EHR, communication shall be conducted effectively and timely (Thompson, Kelly, Shetty, & Banerjee, 2016). Also, the intervention shall save more resources more so those used in printing materials. The EHR eliminates rework, inhibits data loss, and facilitates internal communication between healthcare professionals accompanying a patient, as records are stored in secure and backed-up systems.

The EHR, capable of recording, storing, and providing real-time information about the patient and their treatment, represents a vast potential in many ways, from improving care to reducing costs. The primary function of the tool is to streamline the administrative routine better, streamline internal processes and avoiding waste of resources (Kruse et al., 2015). Doctors, nurses can access the recorded information, and technicians to provide contextualized diagnoses and treatments. Whether in consultations or interventions, these professionals are better able to make decisions with a comprehensive history at hand.

For the health team, medical records should contribute to their integration, enabling care coordination, being an intercommunication tool. In teaching and research, it allows the knowledge of cases, antecedents, contacts, and pathologies/conditions or diseases; facilitates diagnostic study and therapeutic evaluation (Blijleven et al., 2017). It is a field for research and source for the most diverse statistical data on incidence and prevalence, morbidity, and mortality. Besides, it makes it possible to verify and compare different therapeutic approaches and establish a comparative analysis of efficiency.

When using the system, the required data is entered into the respective folders and sent. Access to this data is only limited to authorized personnel who have to prove their identity by keying in unique passwords. The data entered include patients' health records, their diagnosis details, identities, medication, and the cost incurred.

Decision Points

The decision to employ EHR in the facility can be attributed to its prime vision and mission. Like any other healthcare facility, BT aims at providing high-quality services to their patients. Expertise in the organization is driven by the need to save more lives. Henceforth, the decision to receive more patients efficiently, assess their conditions, diagnose and record their subsequent visits, and update the clinicians on their duties and other reforms in the facility could be regarded as the significant drivers of the intervention.

The primary target audience is the healthcare staff, and through proper training and education, it is expected that they will fully support the project, especially after realizing its benefits. The EHR technology does not replace the healthcare personnel involved in patient care but organizes and enables information, identifying links between them, and performing tasks that identify potential errors and failures (Ben-Assuli, 2015). Electronic prescriptions also reduce errors and adverse drug events since they ensure information is provided in a structured, readable, and electronically accessible to all staff.

The system consolidates, in a single system, hospitalization guides, medical records, care histories, and documents used internally, regardless of the sector the patient was attended. In addition to being electronically generated, they are stored the same way. Another benefit is the reduction of spelling errors and understanding of medical reports. Health care personnel can check for the possibility of drug interactions, errors in the prescribed dose, any existing side effects, and whether the patient is allergic to any drugs.

Efforts input by every member would facilitate the success of the project. In particular, they are expected to participate in the implementation process, which is scheduled to last for four months. However, the final decision depends on the board members. The board would evaluate the aftermath of the project. The evaluation metrics may include the change recorded in patient intake, their assessments, diagnosis, visit summary, and referral management (Ozkaynak, Unertl, Johnson, Brixey, & Haque, 2016; Barrett & Stephens, 2017). Enhancing quick workflow would oversee efficiency and security on patient data. Nonetheless, with poor management, the data could be hacked (Kshetri, 2018). Therefore, the facility requires a skilled workforce to avoid such downfalls.

DECISION: Selecting a management system and full migration

Basic Process Map

PATIENT IDENTIFICATION DATE: Collect basic patient info data

VALIDATING DATA: A registry must be found to validate data to prevent fraud and protect patients' data

PROCESS: Purchase all the requirements necessary for establishment of an EHR system and employment of skilled personnel

STARTING POINT: Introduce an EHR in BT.

DECISION: Enter patient and clinician data. Determine the effectiveness of the system

DECISION: Security phase. Data security will be through passwords and a firewall system

TRAINING PHASE: Training of staff on using the computer systems

ENDING POINT: Efficiency of health data management and Evaluation of the project

Overall, poor usage of EHR, and ignorance among the practitioners may lead to adverse effects, such as data loss. On the other hand, manual management of information slows down the process and hence leading to a few members being attended. Relatively, the BT healthcare facility has been based on manual operations previously. Due to the increased flow of patients, the organization should embrace technology and employ the Electronic Health Records system.

References

Barrett, A. K., & Stephens, K. K. (2017). Making electronic health records (ehrs) work: Informal talk and workarounds in healthcare organizations. Health communication, 32(8), 1004-1013.

Kshetri, N. (2018). Blockchain and Electronic Healthcare Records [Cybertrust]. Computer, 51(12), 59-63. doi: 10.1109/mc.2018.2880021

Ozkaynak, M., Unertl, K., Johnson, S., Brixey, J., & Haque, S. (2016). Clinical Informatics Study Guide. doi: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22753-5_7

Thompson, C., Kell, C., Shetty, R., & Banerjee, D. (2016). Clinical Workflow Redesign Leveraging Informatics Improves Patient Outcomes. Heart & Lung, 45(4), 380-381. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2016.05.025