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Abstract

In 2004, President George Bush had a vision in which he wanted to see all U.S. citizens have access to an electronic medical record (EMR) by the year 2014. This year, President Obama took that vision and made it a reality by allotting $64,000.00 in stimulus money per provider over a five year period to help health care providers with the funds needed to implement these systems. Some experts expect the systems to reduce costs and improve quality of healthcare, while others argue that it could compromise a patients' privacy.

Information technology will be playing a major role in helping healthcare providers provide better and safer patient care.

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Health Information Technology Effects on Physician-Patient Care

Earlier this year, President Obama announced that healthcare providers would be given $64,000.00 in stimulus money over a five year period to help them transition to electronic medical records. Those who do not adopt these systems will start being fined by the government by reduced reimbursements in 2014. Although studies suggest that electronic medical records or EMR's could save billions of dollars each year for healthcare, the complexity and cost of developing, implementing and supporting them up to now has been too costly for most physicians (Hoffman 2009).

With the help of the stimulus money from the government, physicians are now moving to EMR systems where patient records are computerized and more streamlined. Using interfaces, the physician can view hospital notes, x-rays, laboratory results and transcription that can be imported directly into the chart. The systems have features to send prescriptions to pharmacies and to flag drug interactions. These interfaces once set up will save time and have less room for error while helping physicians give faster, more efficient treatment.

An outpatient study where patients were given questionnaires that asked them to measure visit components, comprehension of the visit and perception of the physician's use of the computer in the exam room showed that after introduction of computers in the exam room patients reported satisfaction with visits, the physician's familiarity with them, communication of medical issues and comprehension of decisions made during the visit (JAIMA 2005).

Another study using random digit dialing with a potential to reach all homes in the United States plus a sample of all cell phone users, to understand American's attitudes toward health information technologies potential to improve healthcare was conducted August-

HIT EFFECTS ON PHYSICIAN-PATIENT CARE 4

November 2009. This study showed that no matter the gender, race, or age 78% favored the use of the electronic medical record, believed that EMR's could improve care (78%) and reduce costs (59%); believed that the benefits of using an EMR outweighed the privacy risks (64%) and supported healthcare information sharing among providers (72%). The conclusion from the study was that Americans believe that health information technology adoption is an effective means to improve quality and safety of healthcare.

Meanwhile, another study was done at a Veteran's Affairs Medical Center which had a fully functioning EMR system to see if it helped with workflow. Participants reported that they found the system to be trustworthy and reliable, ubiquitous, effectively displayed and adaptable to work demands. Results can be sent from one department to another in a matter of seconds making the visit between the veteran, the staff and the physician