Electronic Health Records Challenges in Design and Implementation

This book provides an overview of the challenges in electronic health records (EHR) design and implementation along with an introduction to the best practices that have been identified over the past several years. The book examines concerns surrounding EHR use and proposes eight examples of proper EHR use. It discusses the complex strategic planning that accompanies the systemic organizational changes associated with EHR programs and highlights key lessons learned regarding health information?including technology errors and risk management concerns.

Introduction. Eight Rights of Safe Electronic Health Record Use. Ten Considerations for the Adoption of Health Information Technology. Defining Health Information-Technology Errors. Risk Management of EHR-Related Safety Concerns. Matching Identifiers in Electronic Health Records. Rights and Responsibilities of Users of Electronic Health Records. A Human Factors Guide to EHR Usability. Ten Commandments for Effective Clinical Decision Support. Improving Clinical Quality Indicators. Computerized Clinical Decision Support. Governance for Clinical Decision Support. Use of Order Sets in Computerized Provider Order Entry Systems. Improving the Effectiveness of EHR-Based Referral Processes. Eight Recommendations for Communicating Test Results. Follow-Up of Abnormal Cancer Screens Using HER. Recommendations for Bar-Code Medication Administration. Computerized Provider Order Entry Adoption. Lessons from Unexpected Increased Mortality. Index.

Dean F. Sittig, PhD, is a Professor at the School of Biomedical Informatics in The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a member of the UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety. Dr. Sittig's research interests center on the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of all aspects of clinical information systems. In addition to Dr. Sittig's work on measuring the impact of clinical information systems on a large scale, he is working to improve our understanding of both the factors that lead to success, as well as, the unintended consequences associated with computer-based clinical decision support and provider order entry systems.