Reforming Healthcare Through Technology Initiatives
Standardized Quality Care

Nurses as a profession need to play a part in the implementation of these technology initiatives so that the workflow of the nurses is cohesive with the technology. Having nurses at the table from the beginning will help with the role out and buy in from the end users. If the nurses are familiar with the technology and understand the purpose and the goal, the impact of the implementation will not be as great. Technology is being used as a means to reduce errors and improve quality care. Nurses need to understand meaningful use of the EHR and the incentives behind the implementation. Organizations that are not on board with an EHR or technology to reduce errors are going to find themselves left behind.
Patient Safety and Quality Care
Identifying and using a standardized language for documentation will also help improve outcomes and safety for patients. Data mining is time consuming because of the different coding systems used by different organizations. The EHR's need to have a way for the clinical care to be documented and utilized by all of the interdisciplinary team while treating the patient. There are EHR's now that can be linked to each other across the country to look up a patient's medical record while treating that patient in a different location. Trying to sort through codes and documentation is a waste of valuable time while the patient is being cared for.
Health care organizations are feeling the pressure to improve the quality of care and safety, while decreasing costs and increasing revenue. Providers and organizations are being asked to do more with less. The advent of technology is being used as a way to increase efficiency, and improve productivity across the organizations. As a team, technology can be used as an improvement tool and not as a requirement.
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