Expected Patient Outcome and Patient-Care Efficiency Improvements Linked to the Informatics Project

The fully functional EHR system, compared to EMR systems, is more accessible and interoperable. This means it can be integrated within health care and be able to communicate efficiently with other systems within the health care system. For medical data to be turned into meaningful and useful quality information and datasets that can be used to improve patient and health outcomes, seamless communication across IT and human systems using standardized data is required (Lehne et al., 2019). Through interoperability, healthcare systems can deliver quality, patient-centered, and value-based care that meets all the needs of the patients and the healthcare systems (Gavrilov et al., 2020). Research has also established that EHRs improve nurses’ cognitive work, impacting their capacity to efficiently individualize and contextualize information to make it clinically meaningful for better care (Wisner et al., 2019).

The proposed EHR will, therefore, improve documentation, data management, and sharing across the various departments and the entire healthcare system, impacting care coordination efforts. The proposed system will allow patients to access their records remotely, improving patient participation in their care planning and progress. These improvements are expected to improve patient care outcomes, their experiences, and the costs incurred in care. On the clinical side, fully functional EHRs are expected to improve the quality and safety of care, reduce strain on care providers by improving their ability to share data and coordinate remotely during patient care, and improve the efficiency of the entire healthcare delivery process.

Project Technology Requirements

The technical requirements for the EHRs project include hardware requirements, broadband requirements, user applications, and mobility requirements. The EHR system will require a broadband connection to support data sharing with other users and access to the cloud and other servers used for data storage and support for data and records access. The system requirements also include computers with access to the internet and processor speeds of over 2.5 GHz, 4GB or more RAM, substantial internal storage, and good screen resolution. The system also requires a good internet browser such as Chrome or Microsoft Edge. It is also functional in the Safari browser. In addition, the system requires an HD plus resolution for optimum function and experience for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Project Team, Roles, and How to Incorporate the Nurse Informaticist in the Project Team

The project team includes an EHR team leader who will manage and lead the entire project implementation process, various representatives of all healthcare professionals, including a physician, nurses, and departmental representatives, a project accountant to manage the financial aspects of the project, and the EHR builders who are responsible for the technical implementation of the project. The nurse informaticist is a critical member of the project team. The nurse informaticist role will be incorporated into the project team to advise the technical development team and ensure that the system is built around the end-user preferences and achieves the required usability. The nurse informaticist is also responsible for providing training to all other nurses and health care professionals on the use of the EHRs, as well as supporting data analysis and management of the system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, implementing a fully functional EHR system can improve the efficiency, safety, and quality of patient care with an impact on health and patient outcomes. However, it is important to consider the system requirements of the system selected, the affected stakeholders, and the team roles to successfully implement a functional EHR.

References

Batko, K., & Ślęzak, A. (2022). The use of Big Data Analytics in healthcare. Journal of Big Data, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/S40537-021-00553-4