HCA 675 Topic 3 DQ 1 Sample Answer

Kruse, Kristof, Jones, Mitchell, & Martinez, (2016) report on the development and implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) in hospitals nation-wide. A literature review is performed, and the evidence shows smaller hospitals as least likely to have the financial resources necessary to purchase and install an EHR. Even with government incentives that lower the overall costs of these systems, the price tag is still beyond reach for many smaller institutions. As one working in rural Arizona, I understand the financial shortages inhibiting the purchase of newer technologies. Interestingly, in addition to the cost of new HER systems, Kruse et al., (2016) identify 68 separate barriers that inhibit hospitals from adopting these new technologies. Among the reasons given are: meaningful use criteria not met, uncooperative physicians, lack of IT staff who can maintain the system, fear of inadequate security for medical records, and derisory internet support. 

Once a hospital installs new technologies into its facility, new sets of issues will begin to surface. Ancillary staff and physicians will need to be trained on how to use the technology. I have worked in radiology for 30 years and we have been through several cycles of systems changes and upgrades. Every time there is a new upgrade, there will be an impact on the staff using it. Many times, in addition to radiology staff; nurses and physicians in other areas of the hospital will also need to learn the new technology. For instance, we contracted a company called “E-Unity” to provide a platform to view the images in our archive system. This new program required radiology to train the rest of the hospital in how to use the equipment. No longer were CDs being burned for the physicians to view on their computers (which was a good thing), but the doctors had to learn how to find the patient’s images on their own. This was a learning curve for the doctors since most of them are not used to finding things on their own. In addition to taking time out of their day, they often became frustrated and blamed the technology when it was truly user error. 

References 

Kruse, C. S., Kristof, C., Jones, B., Mitchell, E., & Martinez, A. (2016, Aug 30, 2016). Barriers to electronic health record adoption: a systematic literature review. Transactional Processing Systems, 40, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0628-9