In modern times, the automation of processes and the translation of paper documentation into electronic is of particular importance. More and more medical institutions are switching to maintaining electronic health records (EHR), which are standard patient records containing the history of the disease, clinical data, laboratory data, and other information, but converted into electronic format. Although, at first, the staff may have difficulties familiarizing themselves with new work systems, the EHR has played a significant role in the development of the field of nursing informatics.
EHR dates back to the 1960s at the Mayo Clinic, where it was decided to introduce an EHR program. The system was quite expensive, which excluded the possibility of its use by small clinics (De Groot et al., 2020). After 20 years, the system became more accessible, and its popularity spread across various medical institutions. The program was used mainly for invoicing, and the need for electronic records was preserved, which was the reason why the development of EHR accelerated significantly. Since the 1990s, EHR has become a standard program for keeping records of patients’ health status and has been implemented in almost every clinic, even the most ordinary (De Groot et al., 2020). Today, technologies continue to develop, and EHR is transformed and becomes more convenient for doctors, medical staff, and patients.
The introduction of EHR has significantly transformed nursing informatics due to various advantages and several amenities. With the help of EHR, the number of medical errors has decreased dramatically because the medical records of multiple doctors have become more transparent and more straightforward (Lopez et al., 2021). Thanks to the development of information technology, the electronic card program allows clinicians to see when a patient needs repeated tests and analyses. For patients, EHR also plays a significant role as it will enable maintaining data confidentiality and see who was the last of the medical staff to access patients’ personal information. These aspects are far from complete in describing how EHR transformed nursing informatics.
In conclusion, an electronic health record is understood as a system for maintaining medical records of patients with indications of diagnoses, treatment, laboratory, and diagnostic data in electronic form. Electronic medical records management dates to the 1960s and continues to develop to this day. EHR has made it possible to make significant changes in nursing informatics by reducing the number of medical errors and the security of patient data, and also because doctors can more clearly and easily see records of procedures performed.
References
De Groot, K., De Veer, A. J., Paans, W., & Francke, A. L. (2020). Use of electronic health records and standardized terminologies: a nationwide survey of nursing staff experiences. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 104(1), 103523. Web.
Lopez, K. D., Chin, C. L., Azevedo, R. F. L., Kaushik, V., Roy, B., Schuh, W., Banks, K., Sousa, V., & Morrow, D. (2021). Electronic health record usability and workload changes over time for provider and nursing staff following transition to new EHR. Applied Ergonomics, 93(1), 103359. Web.