Based on a publication of the US Institute of Medicine, we define aged care EHR in this study as a repository of aged care service recipients’ data in digital form. Aged care EHR contains retrospective, concurrent, and prospective longitudinal electronic health and aged care service information pertaining to a care recipient. They are accessible by multiple authorised users. EHR are generated and maintained by aged care service providers with the primary purpose of giving continuing, efficient and safe health and aged care for their clients. The functionality of EHR may include demographic information, admission assessment, care planning, on-going assessment, nursing charts, progress and incident reporting care planning, medication management, ongoing assessment, nursing charts, progress and incident reporting.
Increasing number of RAC homes in Australia and finland telephone code the United States have been introducing EHR systems over the last decade. The reasons are to standardise the structure and process of client record keeping, and improve the quality and efficiency of information management. These changes are expected to increase the quality-adjusted life years of the older people and improve health decision-making, and access to patients’ medical history., EHR systems should also provide better evidence that care services meet nursing and accreditation standards and legal requirements.
After using EHR systems for up to two years, care staff in nine Australian RAC homes perceived the benefits of EHR to them include quick data entry and retrieval, improved format and content of records, facilitating internal and external communication, and better understanding of residents’ requirements. Unintended adverse consequences included difficulties for some staff in data entry and information retrieval, resistance to using the system, increased complexity of information management, and end-user concerns about access. Reasons included the nature of the EHR systems and the ways the systems were implemented and used by nursing staff.