The personal health record paradox: health care professionals’ perspectives

All healthcare facilities are required to protect and secure patient information

to the greatest standards practicable. Several items in the electronic health record system can be employed to ensure that the health informatics category provides the finest services available. It is only through the use of proper software and hardware for an institution that it is possible to provide the most appropriate services to its clients (Blumenthal, & Tavenner, 2010). The use of the many products under the department of health information records not only ensures patient privacy but also considers having information organized logically for better access. The paper will, therefore, focus on two products under EHR that are cottage Med and Free Med.

Cottage Med: open source electronic medical record software

that helps creates different files within the database. It is a product that was designed to cater to the needs of the community by ensuring that a follow-up of the information was made by opening specific files for each (Murdoch & Detsky, 2013). It was publicly distributed as a free open source software for different computers and browsers hence its ease of access from any location. Since it was developed to care for the community, it is easier to use and does not need sophisticated skills to operate. Individuals can access their information from wherever they are and an interconnection made between the databases of different hospitals.

Advantages of Cottage Med

Additionally, most of the information outlined within this software is easy to understand and use with terms that patients understand. On the other hand, it is easy to download and install on the different computers and has been used in various projects such as those conducted by UN and USAID (Murdoch & Detsky, 2013). The product is however designed for small clinical practices and cannot be used to cater for the inflow of patients within large health care facilities.

Free Med: open source EMR system

that serves to create different modules as a representation of medical data. It is easy to use since it favors the use of different database engines with a user-friendly interface (Nazi, 2013). The modules are interconnected in such a way that patients can access the relevant information by using specific though basic commands in the computer. It is also readily available since it can be utilized by any individual without restrictions such that modules can be removed and added at will without having to reprogram the interface.

Advantages of Free Med

Conversely, it uses an external billing system that enhances its usability within the different healthcare facilities and interconnection with the finance department (Nazi, 2013). Output can, therefore, be generated through a sequence of commands and allow the use of the various formats of specific data. However, since the product is open source, it can be vulnerable to distortion and privacy of patient’s information may not be fully achieved. On the other hand, it saves time as it can easily be accessed and used as evidence of treatment for various patients to obtain and insurance cover (Nazi, 2013). It has been designed to help individuals at low-income levels to get a prescription at little or no cost by using different patient assisted programs. There are services provided through the product to ensure that the gap in medical coverage is filled.

References

Blumenthal, D., & Tavenner, M. (2010). The “meaningful use” regulation for electronic health records. N Engl J Med, 2010(363), 501-504.

Murdoch, T. B., & Detsky, A. S. (2013). The inevitable application of big data to health care. Jama, 309(13), 1351-1352.

Nazi, K. M. (2013). The personal health record paradox: health care professionals’ perspectives and the information ecology of personal health record systems in organizational and clinical settings. Journal of medical Internet research, 15(4), e70.