Application 2: Meaningful Use Paper

Why are many health care organizations hesitant to adopt electronic health records (EHR) when they have the potential to improve quality, increase access, and reduce costs? Some organizations are concerned with the ethical and legal issues that may arise in daily operations. In 2010, legislators noticed health care’s reluctant transition into full EHR integration, and began to provide financial incentives to those organizations that not only adopt EHRs, but also use them meaningfully to improve quality of patient care. As an advanced practice nurse, it is important to be aware of the challenges, policies, and incentives associated with integrating EHR systems. It is also critical that you understand the concept of “meaningful use” and how it plays out in today’s health care organizations.

To prepare:

In this Application Assignment, you analyze meaningful use criteria to determine the authentic legal, financial, and ethical issues that may surround it.

• Reflect on the information presented      in the Learning Resources, focusing on meaningful use legislation and the      “Ethics in Nursing Informatics” section of your course text.
• Investigate the legal, financial, and      ethical issues surrounding meaningful use.
• Ask yourself: What are the goals of      meaningful use?

1) A cover page.

2) An introduction ending with a purpose statement (e.g. “The purpose of this paper is…)

3) Summarize the legal, financial, and ethical issues that may arise as a result of meaningful use legislation.

4) Explain how these issues might present barriers to successful implementation within an organization.

5) Discuss ways that health care organizations can make the most of their electronic health record (EHR) investments in light of meaningful use.

6) Explain how EHR-related meaningful use legislation is being implemented in your organization.

7) A conclusion

8) A references pages in APA format. 

Required Readings

California HealthCare Foundation. (2011).

Retrieved from http://www.chcf.org/ 

The California HealthCare Foundation outlines quality reform plans that improve efficiency and reduce cost for California’s patients.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2010). CMS EHR meaningful use overview.

https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/30_Meaningful_Use.asp 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines the term meaningful use and also its view of meaningful use criteria, requirements, and financial impact.

Course Text: Ball, M. J., Douglas, J. V., Hinton Walker, P., DuLong, D., Gugerty, B., Hannah, K. J., . . . Troseth, M. R. (Eds.) (2011). Nursing informatics: Where technology and caring meet (4th ed.). London, England: Springer-Verlag.

• Chapter 14, “Usability and      Clinical Application Design”

This chapter begins by defining the terms usability and application design as they are used in the field of nursing informatics. The authors then describe the literature review and analytic process that the TIGER Collaborative group underwent to positively transform the development of HIT systems.

Gruber, D., Cummings, G. G., LeBlanc, L., & Smith, D. L. (2009). Factors influencing outcomes of clinical information systems implementation: A systematic review. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 27(3), 151–163. 

The authors analyze the outcomes of prior IT implementations to determine if certain strategies can guarantee success when launching new clinical information systems.

Kaufman, D., Roberts, W. D., Merrill, J., Lai, T., & Bakken, S. (2006). Applying an evaluation framework for health information system design, development, and implementation. Nursing Research, 55(2, Suppl. 1), S37–S42.

This article emphasizes the indispensable role of continuous evaluation throughout the development and real-time application of new information systems into the workplace.

Schlotzer, A., & Madsen, M. (2010). Health information systems: Requirements and characteristics. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 156–166.

Use this article to examine the importance of focusing on sound design, interoperability of systems, and fulfillment of user needs when developing an effective database.

Course Text: American Nurses Association. (2008). Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

“Ethics in Nursing Informatics” (p. 49-52)

This page of the text introduces three common ethical codes used in health care today.

Croll, P. (2010). Privacy, security and access with sensitive health information. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 167-175.

The author proposes a model for controlling the security of health information networks and systems.

Hjort, B. (2007). AHIMA report addresses evolving role of health care privacy and security officers. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 9(3), 47-68.

This article identifies the challenges and responsibilities of health care workers employed in privacy and security positions.

Layman, E. J. (2008). Ethical issues and the electronic health record. The Health Care Manager, 27(2), 165-176.

The findings within this article provide recommendations for health personnel, leaders, and policy makers when attempting to design ethically sound electronic health records.

Mackenzie, G., & Carter, H. (2010). Medico legal issues. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 176-182.

Within this article, the authors provide an overview of the legal issues, precautions, and potential breaches that surround the privacy and security of electronic patient records

O’Keefe-McCarthy, S. (2009). Technologically-mediated nursing care: The impact on moral agency. Nursing Ethics, 16(6), 786-796.

Examine technology’s ability to negatively affect the patient/nurse relationship as decisions are based more on data and less on emotional and pedagogical reasoning by referencing the material found in this article.

Withrow, S. C. (2010). How to avoid a HIPAA horror story. Healthcare Financial Management, 64(8), 82-88.

The HIPAA horror story that is detailed here underlines the importance of adopting HIPAA privacy and security provisions in efforts to reduce potential violations and financial threats.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2010). CMS EHR meaningful use overview.

https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/30_Meaningful_Use.asp 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines the term meaningful use and also its view of meaningful use criteria, requirements, and financial impact.

American Nurses Association. (2011). Ethics and human rights.

Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/HealthcareandPolicyIssues/ANAPositionStatements/EthicsandHumanRights.aspx