Understanding EHR Platforms
By Analysis, Healthcare IT, , , ,

Considering a career in healthcare IT? If so, it is important for you to understand the vital role that electronic health records, EHRs, play in providing continuity of care to patients.

Today’s patients are looking for efficient, reliable, value-based care. Having a digital record of the patient’s chart that is recorded in real time and accessible to all of the clinicians involved in that patient’s care is essential.

Digital Healthcare Infrastructure

EHR has radically transformed patient care by providing a seamless flow of information between all involved clinicians in one facility and between all other facilities involved in a patient’s care. This process has dramatically improved quality of care while reducing costs to the facility.

Today’s EHR provides access to evidence-based tools that help clinicians make better decisions while streamlining workflow.

What You Need To Know

Healthcare IT professionals need to understand how EHRs work, how to implement them, and how they interface with the myriad of medical devices in use today. EHR systems can be complicated, but they are in use in most medical facilities nationwide, and healthcare IT has to support them.

You must also be familiar with the HIPAA Privacy Act regarding the storage and maintenance of EHRs due to the sensitive data they contain.

Leading Software Providers

Epic has been the leader of the pack for the past ten years. It offers user-friendly features for both staff and patients and can be easily shared throughout a patient’s entire healthcare network. It is also a fully integrated system that handles patient scheduling, registration, and billing data along with the patient’s clinical information. A time-tested, widely-used system, Epic regularly earns top marks in surveys and has won numerous industry awards.

Lawson has been utilizing analytics for healthcare since 2011. They also provide a lower-cost option for hospitals with Engage, a shared services model.

PeopleSoft was founded in 1987 and acquired by Oracle, a J.D. Edwards company, in 2005. Oracle EHR systems offers long-term care and transitional care records management in addition to that of an acute care setting.

Workday is a cloud-based system that supports many different types of industries including healthcare. They offer innovative technologies geared to meet your individual EHR needs.

EHR platforms are an integral part of today’s healthcare IT toolkit. Such software enhances safety while improving quality of care. You will need to train on the specific software you will support.