Electronic Health Records (Essay Sample)

Electronic Health Records
Name of Student
Institutional affiliation
Electronic Health Records
The key challenges in the implementation of the EHRs are the costs, the people, technical ability, and the privacy concerns. The costs that are incurred in setting up the HER system are high. This is because it requires the investment of capital in infrastructure, training, personnel, and support staff. The maintenance of the HER system is also very expensive (McGonigle, & Mastrian, 2012). The people become a challenge because some patients and healthcare providers may resist the change in the healthcare protocol. The resistance negates the rollout and implementation process because the persons are resistant to the change process. For example, the nurses may be reluctant because they lack the essential expertise to handle the system (Bates, 2010). Technical ability to the use of the system varies with region or age. For example, the rural providers are likely to lag behind because of the lack of the technical ability to start and maintain the system. The privacy concerns are a major challenge because the patients and the medical practitioners may not trust the systems. They face risks of cyber-attacks, unauthorized access, and the risk of losing the records in case of natural calamities (Bates, 2010).
The challenge of costs can be addressed by setting up a committee to supervise the execution of the system by prioritizing the most necessary aspects of the system. This is through analysis of the most feasible tenders that promote the acquisition of infrastructure at minimal cost. The problem of resistance can be addressed through proper training and involvement of the people in the implementation process (Cresswell, & Sheikh, 2009). At first, some of the people are trained, and they serve as the motivators towards the change process. Technical ability may be implemented through ensuring a training program that incorporates all health workers in different settings. The privacy concerns are addressed by the use of logins that are specific to different healthcare practices. This will allow the retrieval of infor...