Writing Homework Help

Please answer each DQ with 100-150 words. Thank you 🙂

Mirinda:

In today’s health care, use of technology is in high use whether it be with equipment or technology. Physicians and other providers make use of computer technology to help keep track of patient records. Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) is defined as a method health care provider’s use to input and send out treatment instructions. This includes medication, diagnostic test orders, and labs by way of computer technology and not by phone or paper (HealthIT.Gov., 2021). Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are programs that help providers plan in assessing data within health records, and prompts and reminds providers to plan patient care using evidence-based practices (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Informatics can help health care providers overcome barriers to care and increase safe and quality health care in many ways. For example, the use of a CPOE can help decrease mistakes by use of legible orders and not handwritten orders which historically have caused more questions and mistakes in prescriptions and other orders. CPOE’s assist in efficiency by electronic submissions of labs, or pharmacy orders. Orders can be flagged that need pre-approvals with CPOE’s, which helps decrease insurance claims that will be denied (HealthIT.Gov., 2021). With CDSS’s, it will notify providers of reports, gives documentation guides, and diagnostic support (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Both CPOE and CDSS are tools to help providers give safe care to patients with various prompts and reminders for their review. On the other hand, the systems are not flawless. With CPOE, the costs of the program can be an expense for an organization that must redesign its system, and with the costs of training all who use the program on the new system. CDSS can cause alarm fatigue and perhaps cause some providers to skip passed alerts and not read them. Also, some providers may not agree with what the alerts show, causing them to override what is being told on the system (National Library of Medicine, 2017).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Implementing Clinical Decision Support Systems. Implementing Clinical Decision Support Systems | CDC | DHDSP

HealthIT.Gov. (2021). What is Computerized Provider Order Entry? What is computerized provider order entry? | HealthIT.gov

National Library of Medicine. (2017). Impact of Commercial Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) and Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) on Medication Errors, Length of Stay, and Mortality in Intensive Care Units: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Impact of commercial computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) on medication errors, length of stay, and mortality in intensive care units: a systematic review and meta-analysis – PubMed (nih.gov)

Elizabeth:

DeNisco and Barker (2016) define nursing informatics as “a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice”. Health Informatics plays a critical role in the push toward healthcare reform. Not too long ago, facilities had paper charts, which made it difficult for all providers for one patient to view the patient’s history. It was impossible to view vital information quickly. Electronic Health Records (EHR) allow all team members to have access to the latest information allowing for more coordinated, patient-centered care. Benefits of the EHR include; ability to track data over time, easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or checkups, check how their patients are doing on a specific parameter such as blood pressure readings or vaccinations, monitor and improve the overall quality of care within the practice, all lab and radiology results are accessible, h & P’s are available to be seen by all providers, medications are listed, and all emergency room visits are available to see too (Garrett & Seidman, 2011).

Clinical provider order entry (CPOE) refers to the process of providers entering and sending treatment instructions, including medication, laboratory, and radiology orders, through a computer application rather than paper, fax, or telephone (Health It, 2018). Benefits of the CPOE include reduced errors and improve patient safety, improved efficiency, and improved reimbursement. With paper orders or verbal orders, there is an increased risk of error due to the inability to read the order or hear the wrong order. Also, with CPOE, there are order sets placed. This helps providers order all necessary labs, scans, and medications. Also, from the pharmacy standpoint, the doses and routes are preprogrammed, which helps reduce medical errors as well. CPOE gives providers accountability for their orders. They are assured that the correct tests are being ordered.

References:

DeNisco, S. M., & Barker, A. M. (2016). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essential Knowledge for the profession (3 ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Garrett, P. & Seidman, J. (2011). EMR vs EHR – What is the Difference? Health It Buzz. Retrieved from: https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/electronic-heal…

Health It. (2018). What is computerized provider order entry? Retrieved from: https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-computerized-pro…

Loretta:

Informatics have been known to transform the health care platform in a positive manner to enhance patient care and outcomes. Since the beginning of electronic health records (EHR), the purpose of health care informatics was to share patient information amongst health care professionals while securing patient data. This was difficult because of the enforcement indicated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). But since the implementation of EHRs and computerized physician order entry (CPOE), and other health information technology (HIT). The use of HITs allow health care providers to order prescription meds, diagnostic tests, laboratory tests and other medical procedures through the use of electronic devices such as a “computer on wheels”, a cell phone, tablet, desktop and pretty much any electronic device. The use of “paper” prescriptions and orders has diminished or is utilized less. As determined by Kroth, HIT provides opportunities to improve health care delivery quality, effectiveness, and efficiency while reducing costs (2016).

Computerized decision support systems (CDSS) improve provider performance by producing “popup” warnings and recommendations associated in patient care. CDSS produce “hard stops” that do not allow providers to ignore a warning, which I believe is a productive tool. In the example that Kroth provides, he states if a providers were to order a very expensive, broad spectrum antibiotic, a popup would appear to alert the provider that a consultation to an infectious disease provider is required (2017). The CDSS produces other warnings and recommendations that has proven to improve patient outcomes such as appropriate antibiotic use for inpatients, appropriate weaning protocols for patients and ventilators and the preventative measures to reduce the risk of MRSA. “Barriers to sharing patient information across multiple providers often become immediately apparent when a patient with a significant illness sees a number of different specialty providers and attempts to coordinate the flow of information among them” (Kroth, 2016).

Kroth, P. J. (2016). Health Information Technology. Barker & DeNisco (Eds), Advanced Practice Nursing. Essential Knowledge for the Profession (3^rd ed., pp. 323-348). Jones & Bartlett Learning.