Policy and Guidelines for the Informatics Staff: Making Decisions to Use Informatics Systems in Practice

An important informatics tool in this project is Electronic Treatment Administration (eTAR), a type of Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHRs utilize technology to address all patient information, including data gathering and distribution. eTAR performs major functions such as making it easier for healthcare givers to keep track of medication and treatment, It can be accomplished by documenting the activities that are carried out in the healthcare process (Moy et al., 2021). This tool maintains accurate records of doses, treatments, and surgical or diagnostic procedures. Furthermore, eTAR sends notifications to healthcare providers for important patient check-ups.

Evaluation of Function of Tool Related to Evidence-Based Practice

The effectiveness of the eTAR system is to enhance patient care by adapting the digital form of the method that used to be done on paper. It is used in treating patients with chronic diseases and also those with acute diseases. First, it organizes the patients depending on their areas, frequency of treatment, and the treatment and medication procedures. Then the system creates digital files for every patient including all necessary healthcare details and records of treatments. However, if the patient has no records of medication history, the system defaults to PRN as an option (Mardani et al., 2022). For each treatment or medication that is provided to patients, a checkbox is marked. These checkboxes also indicate the effectiveness of the treatments. The system also has alarms that remind healthcare providers about checking certain diagnoses. However, if a specific medication is almost out of stock, a reorder button can be used to place an order for restocking. A summary page for each session can be created using the details of the sessions including start time, end time, the time taken, PRN orders, medications and treatments, and any missed instructions.

Guidelines on Analysis of Work Setting

The healthcare system utilizes eTAR to ensure that they have documented their patients’ experience correctly and not have made any mistakes (Kemp et al., 2022). It assists in maintaining the privacy of patients and eliminates any mistakes that may be made, like entering the patient details, health condition, or the management of medication. eTAR also records all procedures performed which include surgical and non-surgical and also records the expected results (Kemp et al., 2022). It makes it easier for healthcare providers to record any instructions that were not achieved or prolonged. All these records are incorporated into the patient’s electronic health record (EHR), in a way that can assist healthcare providers in improving patient care and enhance interdisciplinary coordination (Janett and Yeracaris, 2020). 

eTAR Supporting Strategic Plan

eTAR system serves an important purpose in identifying the patient treatment process. One of them is to protect patient safety which means that the eTAR allows healthcare providers to monitor crucial information using automated systems and can improve their productivity. New patient treatment plans are assigned with a 72-hour working deadline. NetSolutions Clinical Decisions is a software that helps in achieving this task (Huss and Coupland, 2020). This software ensures patients’ data security and only allows access to data upon consent. Patients own their data and can get information on all treatments they have undergone. Moreover, Clinical Decision Support (CDS) improves care quality and provides healthcare providers with valid information to assist in decision-making (Hak et al., 2022).

Assessment of Workflow to Increase Efficiency

The eTAR system is a nursing informatics tool that has made healthcare quality smooth and easier. It offers immediate access to eCharting sessions and preserves the necessary orders from the current week which is better than trying to remember every order for the month. It increases security through the user authentication of accounts and makes healthcare providers to log in their details to access information. Furthermore, it allows a convenient patient information interface. When the software is installed, it contains information on drugs, clinical guidelines, and Black Box warnings. It also alerts healthcare providers for medication treatments so that the patient’s status gets monitored frequently. Furthermore, it places the last obtained or the most recent PRN order clearly in the first 72 hours to allow healthcare providers to give them priority. Imaging is utilized to safely store, retrieve, and track the data of the patient (Mardani et al., 2022). These features allow this technology to enhance functioning by eliminating manual work. It also reduces human errors by notifying healthcare providers to make updates on the patient, do vital checks, and give medications. 

eTAR Contribution to Inter-Professional Care

The eTAR allows healthcare providers to maintain patient data easily for teamwork in patient care (Petersen et al., 2020). It is used to improve communication among care coordination teams with EHR to improve collaboration among care professionals. These tools make it easier for healthcare professionals to understand what is expected of them which improves patient satisfaction. Healthcare providers collaborate with others in interdisciplinary teams to maximize patient treatment and care. The eTAR allows healthcare providers to keep a record of communication between others. It also ensures that the patient has received the care they need (Tanvar et al., 2020).

Conclusion

eTAR is a useful tool for keeping patient records safe and it tracks patient medications, surgeries, and health progress to ensure safety. eTAR uses user-authentication and other methods to protect patient information. Patients can easily access their data and receive reminders for checkups and medication updates to help improve their health management.

References

Hak, F., Guimarães, T., & Santos, M. (2022). Towards effective clinical decision support systems: A systematic review. PLoS One, 17(8), e0272846. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272846 

Huss, R., & Coupland, S. E. (2020). Software‐assisted decision support in digital histopathology. The Journal of Pathology, 250(5), 685-692. https://doi.org/10.1002/path.5388 

Janett, R. S., & Yeracaris, P. P. (2020). Electronic medical records in the American health system: challenges and lessons learned. Ciencia & saude coletiva, 25, 1293-1304. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020254.28922019 

Kemp, K. A., Fairie, P., Steele, B. J., & Santana, M. J. (2022). How to analyze and link patient experience surveys with administrative data to drive health service improvement–examples from Alberta, Canada. International Journal of Population Data Science, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.23889%2Fijpds.v7i4.1763 

Mardani, A., Paal, P., Weck, C., Jamshed, S., & Vaismoradi, M. (2022). Practical considerations of PRN medicines management: An integrative systematic review. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 13, 759998. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.759998 

Moy, A. J., Schwartz, J. M., Chen, R., Sadri, S., Lucas, E., Cato, K. D., & Rossetti, S. C. (2021). Measurement of clinical documentation burden among physicians and nurses using electronic health records: a scoping review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 28(5), 998-1008. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa325 

Petersen, L. F., Madsen, M. D., Østergaard, D., & Dieckmann, P. (2020). Using simulation to help healthcare professionals relaying patient information during telephone conversations. Heliyon, 6(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04687 

Tanwar, S., Parekh, K., & Evans, R. (2020). Blockchain-based electronic healthcare record system for healthcare 4.0 applications. Journal of Information Security and Applications, 50, 102407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jisa.2019.102407

Appendix A

Policy

Overview 

The new technology, eTAR provides patients with a better experience in healthcare. This policy is designed to give training to interdisciplinary teams that will be trained on how to use eTAR properly. This is the latest tool and assists the team in working with it efficiently to enhance its functions. When healthcare providers use eTAR, they benefit from having a reduced workload and more productivity. 

Purpose 

The main purpose of this policy is to improve the quality of patients’ treatment. It helps the healthcare organizations to minimize the possibility of mistakes made by people. Incorporating eTAR in healthcare institutions enhances healthcare service delivery because it enhances the process of data collection, distribution, and automation. 

Responsibility

• Organize training programs regularly to update the healthcare teams on the advancements that eTAR is providing in the healthcare sector.
• Recognize the need for hiring skilled technical workers to manage the site and update it frequently according to eTAR.
• Ensure that staff members such as nurses, physicians, and administration will implement eTAR properly.

Guidelines

The new policies for eTAR have been established as part of foreign policy regulations. These policies are designed to enhance eTAR capabilities and promote the technology’s application in global healthcare. eTAR improves healthcare providers’ practice by decreasing mistakes, increasing patients’ protection, and providing exceptional patient health.

Here are the essential guidelines for using eTAR:

• Learn the fundamentals of computers and technology.
• Ensure having a reliable internet connection.
• Ensure patient confidentiality and safety when managing patient data.
• Ensure evaluation of patient medical history before transferring data.
• Gather important information about medicines and their uses before using eTAR.
• Ensure strict policies are maintained and understood by all. 
• Confirm scheduled dates, timelines, and reminders for medications and medical procedures.
• Maintain effective communication to provide to meet patient’s needs and satisfaction.
• To avoid any digital issues, keep a regular check of the system.