Professional Learning: EMR Training
In developing professional learning one should take into account:
Twenty-three percent of instructors top priority for professional development is covering subject content. (Wei, 2009).
The Story Behind the Story
On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and part of ARRA is the Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) was enacted establishing incentive and mandate for all health-care providers to initiate an electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR). EMRs are systems to store patient information as did the paper chart.
Many EMR formats also take the critical thinking away from the provider, the ophthalmic provider needs to understand and apply the eight elements required for a history of present illness and chief complaint. These important items are essential in history taking to offer the physician a starting point in diagnosing and treating the patient. As well as in the coding and billing for reimbursement. Insurance payments require at least five of these elements for each full exam.
The EMR trainers/instructors need to keep in mind what elements involved are important. Training considerations are timing, learning environment, learning theory and proficiency assessment. (Pantaleoni, Stevens, Mailes, Goad, and Longhurst, 2015).
San Jacinto College is a recent Aspen Rising Star winner, proving that the instructors are committed to our people, community and our students. San Jac encourages professional learning for instructors and staff while developing an all-round employable San Jac certified student.
What brings us together in the training is a GOAL to develop and implement a professional digital record keeping curriculum. Using a quote from the pioneer physician in training ophthalmic personnel, Dr. Harold Stein, to encourage and understand the importance of history taking either on paper and more importantly in today’s offices is electronically submitting.
“If a technician cannot adequately obtain a thorough medical history, it does not matter how talented of a diagnostician they are. I have no use for them.” Harold Stein, M.D.
Taking an accurate and efficient medical history is a number one student learning outcome for the capstone courses in our program. We are taking that a step further by making electronic medical records as part of our instructional core curriculum. Why do we need to shift in this direction of EMR training? As mentioned above and in the presentation the ARRA in 2009 pushed for accurate charting and transparency of medical records. The eye care technology program aspires to prepare our students for technology used in the workforce.
All eye care professionals need to be trained not just on taking and completing a medical history and exam but how to enter all that data into an electronic medical record system.
What does the EMR do for the medical field? It allows the information to be readily available to physicians, staff, insurance providers and patients. It puts the patient back in charge of their own health care by providing patient educational venues inside the chart portal or app. Studies show patients who take charge of their own health care are more compliant thus healthier.
Electronic prescription saves lives…
By reducing errors in filling medications due to unreadable written Rx. It double checks new prescribed medications against current medications to make sure there is no adverse effect between medications. It Also warns the prescribing physician possible side effects patients may have due to their age, and medical conditions. It saves time and money for the doctor’s office, pharmacies and patients waiting for the accurate dispensing of their medication. It also allows for accurate billing through insurance providers, savings in audits, legal fees and over-billing to the patient.
To improve our blended learning environment for Electronic Medical Records. We will be utilizing an electronic template developed by our San Jac Assessment and Evaluation team.
Staying in the Program and College’s Budget, the development of an in-house EMR template will be more cost-effective verse the college purchasing and installing an EMR system from a vendor.
This template was developed by using a combination of previous paper charts used in the classroom and provided by our clinical affiliates
Upon finalizing the template, we will do a few dry runs producing some electronic medical records of mock patients. As we learn and work out any possible bugs in this template, an Assessment & Evaluation IT Tech will be available to make instant changes to the template until we are all satisfied with the final product. Which should be efficient time to complete since we are all skilled in taking a medical history on paper. The college and program can adjust the time either less or more time as needed later in the week. We all know it’s not always rainbows when working with innovative technology.
We will engage our first-year students with taking a medical history on paper charts the first two weeks of the term. Starting week 3 the program’s approved EMR template will be introduced to the students for implementation.
Developing my presentation was a work in progress. My first step was addressing the call of duty from our clinical affiliates needing trained student and future employers in taking an accurate and efficient medical history electronically. Doing the research on how to add electronic medial recording into the eye care technology curriculum. Developing an outline and script on the why and how to train instructors and then move into training the students. Creating a PowerPoint using Microsoft and adding video and visual components. The introduction filmed in my office in the Eye Care Suite on my iPhone and then adding video to the PowerPoint on my home computer in my office. The finished presentation was loaded to YouTube and added to my Saving Sight E-portfolio.
In conclusion, the addition of this new disruptive innovation of EMR to our blended learning will give our students a big advantage when attending their clinical rotation. It will give our industry a higher quality, highly trained hire in the future.
Making our students San Jac Certified !!!
References
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