The policy analysis process being focused on below is a “problem identification” as ascribed by McLaughlin & McLaughlin, specifically “What is the intended out- put?“ (2014).
For the future, there promises to be technological breakthroughs that will facilitate the digitization of medical records and as predicted by President Obama in 2009, “cut waste, eliminate red tape and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests.” (Campbell, 2017). This epitomizes the expected output and results of the changes that the Electronic Health Records is supposed to bring over the next decade.
EHR includes demographics, medications, progress notes, vital signs, people’s medical history, immunizations, lab results and reports. (Electronic Health Records, n.d.).
Data collection; piecing together of various data into useful information is integral to the future of healthcare and technology. This feat has been optimally maximized in the retail industry, where consumer database has been used to either improve customer experience, create bespoke advertising, target demography, communicate preemptively etcetera.
Even McLaughlin & McLaughlin said that “In the application of information technology, the health care sector lags behind other industries” (2014).
Following historical trend and projections, connectivity through the use of technology in healthcare as with Moore’s law in its prime is growing exponentially in scale year on year; be it with record keeping, monitoring outpatient’s welfare via devices, patient-submitted electronic data, PHR, artificial intelligence, etcetera. Patient’s records are now available online, intensifying level of connectivity between providers.
Healthcare is intermittently reactive, it needs to be continuous and proactive (Kraft, 2014), there have been strides going increasingly in this direction using technology but the policy/ies involved are constantly playing a botched job of ‘catch up’ with technological advancements, security exposures, hacking etcetera.
Policies associated with technology has been limited, especially as advances in technology, its adoption and implementation have brought both improvement and issues (McLaughlin & McLaughlin).
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health IT, including electronic health records and a private and secure electronic health information exchange.
Hence the EMR is a veritable source of comparable resource data for research support and clinical/medical breakthroughs, for example TREWS (Targeted Real-time Early Warning Score) which analyzes data gathered from thousands of patients on EHR and identifies subtle sign of certain diseases in people and those without the signs (Saria, 2016). So despite such mortality reducing breakthroughs, its clear the level and type of information available in it makes it prone to breach and/or abuse, that is major source of concern for those in the healthcare environment. Authorization is important to the viewing or sharing of any documents that can be described as legal health record, the policies protecting the records to an extent is quite effective yet breaches occur due to ignorance, due to certain loop holes/exemptions and so on.
Going forward, the extent to which value is added to the quality of services offered will be dependent on the strength of policy which governs, the making, storage and use of electronic health records. The security measures put in place to safeguard access, content etcetera need to be clear and repercussions unforgiving to deter those thinking of willful abuse of privilege. The U.S. continues to lead the charge in patient’s privacy laws.
Reference
Campbell, J. (2017). The Value of EMRs: Broken Promise or Unintended Consequences? Retrieved from https://hitconsultant.net/2017/11/06/value-emrs-broken-promise-unintended-consequences/
Electronic Health Records (n.d.). Center for Connected Health Policy. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cchpca.org/electronic-health-records
Kraft, D. (2014). Next Steps In Health & Medicine: Where Can Technology Take Us? TEDx Berlin. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrW3-yzWt5Q&t=7s
McLaughlin, C.P.& McLaughlin, C.D. (2015). Health Policy Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Jones and Bartlett. 2nd ed. Pp 189
Saria, S., (2016, October 12th). Better Medicine Through Machine Learning. TEDx. Retrieved from https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=658s&v=Nj2YSLPn6OY
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