Medical Records Accuracy Improvement

The item to be reviewed in this paper is titled "How Patients Can Increase the Accuracy of Their Medical Records" and was published in October 2014. The article's goals were to determine whether networked Health records may help patients enhance the accuracy of their medical records. The workflow efficiency and dependability associated with processing patient input, and lastly the impact of patient comments on medical record accuracy (Dullabh et al., 2014).

According to the paper, substantial documentation has been made of the difficulties involved with medical record accuracy and how it might be addressed. Patients can improve the accuracy of their medical records through networked Health records. The efficiency and reliability of the workflow that is associated with processing patients feedback and finally the impact of patients comments on medical record accuracy (Dullabh et al., 2014).

According to the article, there has been extensive documentation of the challenges that are associated with medical records accuracy and how it can be improved. Patients can improve the accuracy of their records if they are allowed to have access to their records through IT means. The patients can be able to complete any information that they feel has been left out of them. There is also the feeling that patients can be able to identify whether the information provided is about them (Bell, & Vance Jr, 2016).

The research carried out used a mixed method that targeted patients’ focus groups, semi-structured interviews with pharmacists, observation with patients. The findings were that patients were ready to provide feedback on their medication and there were many advantages attached to it. The information provided was of great importance. The process of handling the feedback from the patient required software algorithm and human interpretation.

The goal among others is one of the ways that the nurse's work are being made easier today by the patient safety goals as drafted in 2014. The nurses can easily access the patients’ medical records that are correct and can be able to prove that the information is right. It is also easy for the nurses to rectify the information and add on the same information. The feedback from the patient also simplifies the nurses’ functions as they can confirm that the information provided is accurate. The nurses can be able to see a patient’s pattern through information technology software. When a health care organization have a strong and supportive e-health environment, it makes it possible for them to capture patients’ feedback.

The author of the article draws a conclusion through the help of the finding that the medical record accuracy of patients can be improved by placing a patient’s feedback in a useful workflow. The Electronic health developers are required to build applications that are capable of capturing the patient’s feedback to help improve the records. Health institution both public and private is asked to have a continued research and development culture to enable them to elicit and process the patient’s information effectively. Patients’ can help improve the accuracy of their health records when offered the right means to provide that information. The application of the Information system is the best platform today that the health sector can provide to the patients to contribute to their health.

According to Bells and Vance (2014), the nurses can now acquire the information about a patient from a different location. That means that the nurses do not have to spend a lot of time calling to look for patient’s records. Instead, such information can be pulled from the records of the patients. It is also easy to get specific about a patient in the archives. The history can be used as the available evidence of the patient's past. If it a long-term disorder nurses can be able to track the progress for the period the records have been in existence.

References

Dullabh, P. M., Sondheimer, N. K., Katsh, E., & Evans, M. A. (2014). How patients can improve the accuracy of their medical records. eGEMs, 2(3).

Bell, S. K., & Vance Jr, S. R. (2016). When patients teach. Academic Medicine, 91(4), 457.