Recommendations for EHR System Improvements Offered in Recent Report
August 20th, 2007
Electronic health record (EHR) systems are the key to transforming the U.S. healthcare system, according to a report, Recommended Requirements for Enhancing Data Quality in Electronic Health Records, prepared for the Department of Health and Human Services by RTI International.
According to the report, widespread use of EHR “has the potential to improve the quality of care, increase patient safety, reduce medical errors, and control health care costs.”
In addition, use of EHR can also help detect and deter healthcare fraud, “protecting both clinicians and patients by documenting that correct procedures were used, highlighting outliers before they become serious issues, and giving patients a clearer understanding and peace of mind that their health records are being disclosed only to appropriately authorized users,” the report said.
The report recommended 14 functional requirements that would increase data accuracy and aid in fraud management. According to the report, the recommendations were linked to Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) criteria when possible.
The report noted 33% of its recommendations had no match in current or planned CCHIT criteria, indicating that “there is a significant base in current standards and certification requirements upon which to build proactive fraud management capabilities, but further work is required.”
Updating the CCHIT criteria “would certainly provide a significant win for reducing costs” associated with fraud, the report found.
Read the report.
Entry Filed under: News