ELECTRONIC PATIENT DOCUMENTATION

Electronic Patient Documentation



Electronic Patient Documentation

Introduction

The advancement in the health care systems has lead to several changes in the practices and procedures of carrying out health care activities inside the health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics. The development of information technology and other technological instruments have impacted the health care industry in a more prominent way. The health care practitioners and nurses are implementing such practices in the health care systems and premises that will provide best practices of health care to the patients and enhance the overall health care process. The health care personnel and nurses have shifted their vision to provide quality health care through quality management, re- engineering processes in health care, vision building and benchmarking. Such procedures are not easy to apply and they require a large amount of time, leadership qualities and attention to implement such processes.

The new changes and transformations in the health care industry and facilities have influenced the nurses in such a way that they require to be updated to the new and changed procedures and policies. The role of nurses has changed from being the only care provider to the patient to the main and leading player in transforming the process and procedures of the health care management in the health care industry. The health care industry has incorporated certain features for the ease of the management and the nurses in order to facilitate them with the technology that will help in increasing and enhancing the health care processes. Most of the strategies are devised to cut the costs of the processes and procedures involved with the management processes of health care facilities. They include the incorporation of technology in it to save the extra costs and deploy them for the enhancement of health care services and expanding the scope of health care processes.

The health care patient environment involves the most use of technology for the deployment of best practices of nursing for the patients that will lead to a healthy community and better health care services. To enhance the patient recording systems in the hospitals, the health care providers are focusing on implementing the electronic patient record systems in the hospitals and clinics. This paper discusses the areas of changes in the current health care environment that are notable in the health care industry. It also analyzes the impact of such changes on the nursing practices of nurses and health care practitioners, the new changes in the health care practicing environment and the affect of those changes on nursing practices of the nurses in health care industry. A brief context of electronic patient documentation is also provided along with the role of nurses leaders in managing the changes brought about by technology in the health care environment.

Areas Of Change In Current Health Care Environment

The health care industry has undergone several changes in the recent years. The changes can be seen in several areas of health care that usually does not incorporate health of the ...