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Advantages and Disadvantages of the Ehr

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Advantages and Disadvantages of the EHR

Over the historical decade, every major business invested heavily in computerization.
Comparative to a decade ago, today more Americans buy airplane tickets and check in to air flights online, buy things off the internet, and some people earn degrees online. In spite of these developments in our civilization, many patients are given handwritten prescriptions, and not many patients are able to email their doctor or even schedule an appointment to see a physician without speaking to a live receptionist. Electronic health record (EHR) systems has changed the healthcare system from a mostly paper-based industry to a computerized system to assist providers in providing higher quality of care to their patients. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (aka “stimulus package”), was signed into law with an unambiguous purpose of incentivizing providers to adopt EHR systems. The HITECH Act requires that providers adopt EHRs and use them in an eloquent way, meaning using certain EHR functionalities associated with error reduction and cost containment. Some advantages of technology in our society today regards clinical, organizational, and societal outcomes. Clinical outcomes consist of enhancements in the value of care, a decrease in medical mistakes, and other advances in the number of patients that describe the relevance of care. Organizational outcomes involve matters as financial and operational performance, as well as gratification between patients and staff that use EHRs. Finally, societal outcomes consist of enhance research and attaining better-quality population health. Outcomes have often augmented income, obviated costs, and other benefits that are less palpable, like amended legal and regulatory

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