The selected topic is ‘Electronic Health Records.’ Paper-based records, apart from being poorly legible, are bulky and inefficient, especially in the face of increased demand for medical services; thus, there is a higher probability of medical errors resulting from such traditional methods of record keeping. The intervention to this problem lies in the adoption of electronic-based records (Adler-Milstein, DesRoches, Kralovec, Foster, Worzala, & Charles, 2015), which have been determined to have more benefits for medical practice. However, even in the face of the rising popularity of electronic health records, there is an extensive debate on the suitability of adopting the system over paper-based records, which have been used since time immemorial. This aspect has slowed down the digitization of health records and the adoption of electronic health record techniques. The stakeholders include health practitioners and everyone in the medical field, health policymakers, researchers, medical students, and even the public who serve as patients.
Electronic health records offer a tremendous value proposition over paper-based health records. Perhaps its most significant value proposition comes from the increased efficiency and quality of healthcare (Campanella, Lovato, Marone, Fallacara, Mancuso, Ricciardi, &Specchia, 2015). Digital health records improve information sharing in real-time among all the departments in a hospital. The information can be updated and stored for as long as possible, making diagnosis and treatment easier for physicians even in the future as they can still access the history of a patient. The fact that these records are digital also means less paperwork and bulky storage problems (Jamshed, Ozair, Sharma & Aggarwal, 2015). The result is a cheaper data management system, which makes it possible for hospitals to save, earn higher profits, and possibly transfer the surplus revenue to patients, making the cost of medical procedures relatively low. These benefits boil down to the patients. From the value proposition already mentioned, anything that is advantageous to the healthcare system is vital to the patients. A streamlined patient data and information management system tremendously reduces errors, thus, improving the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment of patients.
‘Electronic health records’ is an appropriate topic for eHealth because data and information management is at the center of medical practice. Every step of the process involves information and data. Record keeping is important in communication between physicians, patients and physicians, and among other health practitioners. It has changed traditional healthcare delivery through better coordination of healthcare services. Traditionally, physicians had to shuffle through papers and pass them from one department to the other during the treatment process, which could even lead to the loss of information (Akhu-Zaheya, Al-Maaitah, & Bany-Hani, 2017). Besides, these papers could be destroyed by storage conditions like moisture or pests. The loss of this information meant that a patient had to come back and avail the same data they had provided, which could consume much time and delay health provision and patient care. Electronic health records have made healthcare delivery easy, accurate, and fast by addressing this issue.
Yes, there is a Canadian angle, which concerns regulation of health records. The implementation of electronic health records is challenged in Canada by privacy concerns as well as certain legal issues. The PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) adopted in the year 2000 regulates the collection, provision, and storage of information both in electronic and other forms (Ramzak, Shawabkeh, Kharbat & Qasim, 2008). Extended to the health sector and concerning electronic health records, this regulation limits what information should be shared or otherwise.