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Analysis of Vila Health EHR System and its Meaningful Use Guidelines

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Introduction:
Present what Meaningful Use Guidelines are and what they mean to the organization. Present
Independence Medical Center's current state of compliance.

Meaningful use guidelines refer to particular features of an EHR system, which the

providers have to apply in their organization or practice. An organization needs to adhere to

the meaningful use guideline to qualify for the incentives provided by the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It is worth noting that the incentives related to

health care information technology are listed under the HITECH act, including EHR systems,

which is a part of ARRA (EHR Meaningful Use Criteria, 2010). Hence, Critical Access

Hospitals (CAHs), Eligible healthcare facilities, and Eligible professionals within an

organization receive incentives for meaningful use of certified EHR systems from the state

Medicaid programs or Medicare. Notably, the Independence Medical Center analysis reports

that the leadership at Vila Health does not fully comply with the existing meaningful use

guidelines and regulations. Consequently, this presentation provides findings and

recommendations on maintaining meaningful use guidelines.

Current HIS:
 State the current EHR being used in this organization. Present your findings on the
evaluation of the EHR.

Vila Health EHR system is identified as an Opus system, which was implemented in

2008. An analysis conducted on the current EHR by CEO Norman Reynolds reveals that the

overall system, which comprises the computerized physician order entry, PACS, and lab

system, can perform the job they were designed to do. However, interoperability is the main
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issue affecting the performance of the current EHR. Similarly, the system's workflows are

less efficient and are not to the satisfaction of its users.

Inventory control is an example of an area that needs much improvement. The

inventory control system does not integrate operational functions with medical needs because

they do not efficiently interface with the EHR. Interoperability issues are also evident in the

supply systems. EHR fails to tag the supply system to bill the patient accurately. Therefore,

the provider has to enter patient care supplies into the patient's record manually.

Consequently, it compromises the productivity of the nursing staff since the system

becomes clunky, and they are never confident that it works well. Interoperability problem is

also evident when working with the EHR for admissions. The main challenge lies with

retrieving information from the system. It is challenging to work with the retrieved

information; for instance, only information in numeric format can be output, and there is no

customization in more than one way.

 Explain how the EHR could improve the quality of care, simplify existing processes,
and improve patient outcomes.

It is crucial to improve the Vila Health EHR system to provide the best care to the

patient, simplify the existing process such as access to the patient record and enhance the

patient outcomes. Hence, improving the EHR to support the integration of information into

one record would lead to a massive undertaking, creating fast and efficient access of

information to the healthcare provider. Additionally, an efficient EHR will improve access to

healthcare by scheduling tests and communicating the results to the providers that need them.
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Similarly, an efficient EHR system would simplify the existing process by providing a way to

communicate the needs of the providers when the equipment stops working properly; This is

because the system requires regular replacement or maintenance of the equipment.

Additionally, EHR can improve access to healthcare by tracking what test, image, or

medication is necessary for which patient. EHR is functional as it provides information when

a test has been ordered and reflects the results.

 Discuss how the data are captured, tracked, analyzed, and shared and whether each
area meets regulatory policy and incentive guidelines.

Vila health's EHR system has the patient record, and the lab system, which captures

the information on the normal ranges and what out of range results indicate. Tracking is

particular in the pharmacy area since every medication that comes into the hospital needs to

be tracked and analyzed and how to compound these medications. The drug shared out to a

medical unit also needs to be tracked. The system does not efficiently meet the incentive

guidelines. It takes a lot of time to get minor changes in the EHR systems in the emergency

department. Therefore, many healthcare providers opt for a shortcut when dealing with an

emergency. The ambulatory services are unable to get notifications on drug interactions or

other warnings. Most areas of Vila health are pretty unsatisfied with the current EHR system

and feel that it fails to meet the incentive guidelines and regulatory policy. The cancer center

department report that the system contains untrustworthy information or is incomplete.

Hence, many departments in Vila health try to work around the EHR system than in it.

Recommendations: Upgrades and Improvements:

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 Present your findings from your research on maintaining Meaningful Use Guidelines.
Current best practices for long-term compliance to current incentive programs and
policy. Make additional recommendations on the EHR system, including end-user
functions, training, and ongoing compliance to the department heads. Provide
evidence-based recommendations for implementing new practices and emerging
models in the identified departments.

The current Vila health EHR system analysis demonstrates that its compliance with the

meaningful use guidelines is inefficient and ineffective. Hence, the measure needs to be

drawn to ensure that the Vila health EHR system complies with meaningful use guidelines

(Meaningful Use, n.d.). Thus, Vila health leaders will need to take action and practices for

long compliance to meet the current regulatory policy and incentive programs, such as

providing access to comprehensive patient health data and exchanging meaningful clinical

information for the providers.

 Integrate processes and resources- This is the main issue with the Vila health EHR

system that needs to be addressed. Hence for Vila health to promote measurable

accountability in the care delivery models, the department heads and providers must

increasingly align the health plans that serve their end-users and clients. Vila health

will benefit greatly if it integrates its EHRs and practice management systems to

support open collaboration.

 Consistency- The cancer center department and many other departments avoid using

the EHR system. However, the system must be improved to be vigilant with patient

engagement. They should not cease efforts to build success in enhancing patient

engagement.

 Cautious with workflows that need paper- It is worth noting that due to the

inefficiency in the Vila health EHR system, many healthcare providers have opted for
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manual processes to maintain their information. However, it would be a good idea if

the organization weans completely off paper-based process. Hence, the patient filling

the paper and documenting that information electronically does not count.

 Operate openly- for Vila health to comply with meaningful use guidelines.

They need to work in an open and connected way with all its staff and stakeholders;

This helps build a smoother working system that is openly collaborative.

These practices will enable Vila health to achieve effective compliance of meaningful use

guidelines. Consequently, by complying, Vila health improves the quality of data

accessible to all; this will allow the healthcare providers to offer care for their patients

better. The patients will be more satisfied and involved in their care by creating an open

connected community solutions.

Conclusion.

The Vila health EHR system analysis provides information on how well the EHR system

is being used and meets the needs of the healthcare providers and the patients. Vila health

does not effectively comply with the regulatory policy and meaningful use guidelines.

Hence, this report shows some recommendations for improvements in the use of the EHR

systems. It is worth noting that Vila health must comply with these guidelines since they

can lead to higher-quality data. Consequently, healthcare providers are enabled to provide

better access and care for their patients.

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References

EHR Meaningful Use Criteria. (2010, July 15).

https://www.foxgrp.com/services/technology/ehr-meaningful-use-criteria/

Meaningful Use: What Is It, and Where Did It Go? (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2021, from

https://www.medscape.com/courses/section/870105

Mushtaq, F. (2015). Ensuring EHR compliance for Meaningful Use. Health Management

Technology, 36(7), 16–17. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26302610

1. Introduction

2. Current HIS Analysis:

a. Findings on the evaluation of the current EHR.

b. How can the EHR improve the quality of care, simplify existing processes,

and improve patient outcomes.

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c. How is the data captured, tracked, analyzed, and shared and Does each area

meets regulatory policy and incentive guidelines.

3. Recommendations: Upgrades and Improvements

4. Conclusion.