Electronic health systems

This assignment will review the case study C and identify the implications of the EHR collapse on the government, the consumers and the patients as well. Impact on the Consumers Downtime of the EHR systems is characterized by the loss of patient data and health information from the system of which much of the information is likely not retrievable. Patients as the consumers of the healthcare services are likely to experience delays in the delivery of healthcare interventions and procedures and possibly increase in medication or other care errors (Palojoki, Pajunen, Saranto & Lehtonen, 2016). Patient information contained in the EHR provides a guide to the healthcare providers on the services they are to provide, when and how such health services are provided (Kashiwagi et al.

Downtime of EHR deprives the health care providers of such information leading to delays (Palojoki, Pajunen, Saranto & Lehtonen, 2016). Contingency Plans Healthcare electronic systems ought to have a contingency plan as a backup for any eventuality that might lead to data loss or downtime in the EHR systems. Legal requirements ought to be in place to ensure that organizations implementing EHR systems have such plans in place. In the USA, the HIPAA Act makes it mandatory for backup plans to be established for all EHR (Sittig, Gonzalez & Singh, 2014). The immediate solution to the crisis will be to convene stakeholder’s emergency meetings to deliberate on interventions to ensure patient safety and continuity of care (Sittig, Gonzalez & Singh, 2014). Mobilizing for emergency funds to recruit more healthcare staff to cover the added responsibility due to loss of patient data will be imperative to minimize care delays, institute collection and documentation of new patient records and ensure to add support to the confidence held by the patients of the EHR system (Sittig, Gonzalez & Singh, 2014).

In conclusion, the application of contingency planning in EHR is a critical aspect of ensuring quality in practice of electronic health records. Contingency planning prevents loss of patient data, reduces the cost of data recovery ensures continuity of care even during disasters. Ensuring alternative data recording is also beneficial to the governments and organizations as it minimizes the costs incurred in managing losses and the high costs of patient care in emergency setting. References Fernández, M. , santojani, a. , Callies, B. , Yu, R. , & Thompson, J. All CLEAR? Preparing for IT Downtime.  American Journal of Medical Quality, 32(5), 547-551. , Saranto, K. , & Lehtonen, L. Electronic Health Record-Related Safety Concerns: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Electronic Health Record Users.  JMIR Medical Informatics, 4(2), e13. doi: 10. , Gonzalez, D.