News: AMIA report addresses EHR improvements
Facilities struggling with their electronic health record (EHR) system need to get back to basics, according to a report published by The American Medical Informatics Association’s (AMIA) EHR 2020 Task Force on May 29.
Despite the rapidly-growing enthusiasm for adopting electronic record-keeping, many health professionals, from physicians to CDI specialists, have voiced their concerns about unintended consequences of EHR use, including reduced time for patient-clinician interaction and, as a result, less-detailed documentation. Thus, AMIA created the Task Force—comprised of 15 industry experts— to address these issues, and to develop recommendations for better EHR practices.
The Task Force identified 10 recommendations broken down into five categories for facilities to focus on to improve their EHR efforts (the full report and recommendations are available online):
- Simplify and speed documentation
- Refocus regulation
- Increase transparency and streamline certification
- Foster innovation
- EHR technological adaptation
EHRs can be valuable tools for facilities. However, if EHRs are to help physicians provide better care, and CDI specialists and coders deliver better documentation, hospitals must shift their efforts to emphasize usability without compromising patient safety or limiting physician interaction with patients, the report says. AMIA notes they are confident that current issues can be resolved.
Editor’s Note: For more information, refer to “Position Paper: Electronic health records and the role of the CDI specialist,”