EHR's

[Guest guest]

What is your personal opinion about electronic health records? This is an

article about the pros.

To provide quality healthcare, communication is vital. Using an EHR, physicians

can more easily communicate regarding current and past medical conditions with

other providers in their practice, with referring or co-managing physicians, and

with patients themselves. This technology also enhances communication across

many providers and service locations—in both the practice and hospital setting.

Improving Quality of Care

Within a practice, physicians may use different treatment strategies or follow

different decision-making processes. EHRs can facilitate provision of consistent

quality within a practice and help to ensure consistency of therapeutic

approaches by different physicians.

EHRs allow practices to produce data-driven reports on patients by diagnosis,

stage, and tumor features, with delivered care, outcomes, toxicities, warranted

variations, and cost. Putting these data to use, practices can show the value

and quality of care delivered while improving efficiencies and safety and

facilitating the use of evidence-based guidelines. In fact, EHRs facilitate the

delivery of quality care, making it possible to compare an individual patient’s

therapy with guidelines established by the practice, or with guidelines

established by other entities, such as ASCO, NCCN, payers, or other

organizations. EHRs also enhance a practice’s ability to participate in national

programs such as:

• ASCO's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI).

• Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).

• Physician- and physician network–driven comprehensive oncology initiatives,

including several oncology medical home pilots, US Oncology’s Innovent program,

and University of Pittsburgh’s Via program.

• Payer-led quality of care projects.

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FYI,

Lottie Duthu