Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology.docx

Running head: ADVANCED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 1
Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology
Lesley A. Burns
Western Governors University

ADVANCED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 2
Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology
Advantages and Disadvantages of a System
Sound and reliable information is the foundation of decision-making across all health system
building blocks, and is essential for health system policy development and implementation,
governance and regulation, health research, human resources development, health education and
training, service delivery and financing. [Wor17] Healthcare continues to become the largest
industry on the international level. Because of government regulations as well as health care
organizations, hospitals are required to meet standards set forth by regulating agencies in order to
be reimbursed for services provided to patients. To continue to move forward in regulatory
standards as well as in evidence based practice, hospitals need to adapt with technology to aid
healthcare providers to deliver excellent care. Health information systems allow teams to input
information, treatments, medications and data into one system that will allow integrated care and
efficient up to date care and also provides and efficient method of delivery across the hospital
system. As two organizations desiring to be one system, an electronic medical record (EHR) is
vital to provide continuum of care with our patients. Epic is one system that will be discussed
here. EPIC was founded in 1979 and has continued to develop over the past 38 years with the
goal to help people get well, help people stay well and help future generations be healthier.
(epic.com, 2017) Epic is custom built for each healthcare system and the employees work closely
to help implementation go smooth for the healthcare providers as well as the patient.
When considering an electronic medical record to implement, there are four features that
must be taken into consideration. Usability, interoperability, scalability and compatibility are
included in these features. When looking at each of these features, we have to discern what this
means to our system and how EPIC will provide for our specific needs. Usability will have

ADVANCED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 3
several principles that define it. Simplicity, naturalness, consistency, minimizing cognitive load
and effective information presentation are significant. EPIC benefits from its software being user
friendly. Once trained, the user can personalize the way they document and find information. The
flow of the information can be customized for a healthcare system or an individual up to a
certain point. They work to create a consistent base template so that each user has all the
information provided despite the many different ways it can be documented. The disadvantage of
this is that because there are many different ways to document in the system, there is the chance
of double chart information. While some may think the copy and paste feature would be an