Complete two EHR Go activities relating to meaningful use, provider performance, and EHRs and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PCDA). Create a best practices checklist (2 pages) for data analysts to follow when analyzing EHR charts for accuracy and quality.
A user’s degree of trust in CDS systems is critical. Developing a successful CDS system is complex. It relies on highly skilled experts and users. However, for users to reach a certain skill level, they have to be confident the system works as intended. For example, successful design of a CDS system requires providers to work with technical staff to identify the steps in assessing symptoms to reach a diagnosis. This type of design work translates into effective development and use of the CDS. The foundation underlying EHRs and supporting systems, such as clinical decision functions, is to use with meaning. In other words, these systems must have meaningful use. Providers are generally more accepting of the system if meaningful use exists.
Integrating a CDS into an existing system to support clinical practice provides an opportunity for health care organizations to reduce treatment errors and to improve patient care, outcomes, and safety. A frequent approach to implementing CDS systems is to offer incentives to providers who use the system effectively. Likewise, CDS system implementations also focus on best practice uses in a particular setting. CDS systems also help to establish best practices to further support health care organizations’ goals of improving patient care, outcomes, and safety. For instance, using a CDS system may facilitate the practice of evidence-based medicine to improve health care quality.
Many health care professionals believe that CDS systems offer significant benefits to the health care industry. Still, the ability to use these benefits is only beginning to evolve. Many organizations—particularly larger entities with significant resources—have implemented fragments of CDS systems. Few organizations rely on these systems to provide direct care without first providing information to an experienced provider. Most organizations have found that even these small steps are difficult and resource intensive. In spite of this, because of their potential value, many organizations are willing to spend considerable time trying to make these CDS systems work.
In this final course assessment, you will continue your work as a data analyst. You have been assigned to a performance improvement team that has as one of its objectives to support best practices and guidelines for the use of CDS functions. Your specific task is to create a checklist that will help data analysts to consistently analyze EHR charts for accuracy and quality. You will use Core Objectives for Hospital Measures and a performance improvement model of your choice to create the checklist.