Primary Care Patient Management and Health Information Technology

Electronic Health Records (EHR) are a system of Health Information Technology (HIT) components including clinical documentation, medication orders, laboratory and diagnostic study results, management, and evidence based clinical decision support. In this case, a patient’s care is compromised because of incomplete documentation of medical information and lack of integration among data collection systems. The patient has had over fifty years of medical care in a U.S. government health system followed by care in a private primary care setting. Effective implementation and utilization of EHRs in primary care settings, will positively affect patient safety and quality of care. Appropriate use of EHR provides challenges to clinicians, HIT developers, and healthcare administrators. Provision of quality patient care utilizing HIT is challenging to use and implement, but when patients receive healthcare from multiple sources, the challenge becomes even greater. The need for integrated EHR systems is evident in the geriatric population (Ash, et al., 2009), where the ability to provide data to new clinicians may be affected by cognitive decline in this population. Management of health and chronic conditions in the geriatric population requires an ongoing commitment to HIT implementation for safer and more effective care.