Electronic Health Records Essay Example for Free

Electronic Health Records Essay Implementing a new electronic health records (EHR) system to replace manual records is an extremely complicated task. EHRs use complex algorithms to exchange patient data among different physicians and departments such as a pharmacy and laboratory. EHRs are becoming popular because employees and patients can access records anytime and anywhere. Patient drug alerts are also part of the system to warn emergency room and intensive care nurses about potential drug reactions. A needs assessment is a systematic procedure to determine what components are required for EHR implementation to prevent failure of the highly costly investment. Although EHR systems have been shown to dramatically reduce human error, proper assessment before undergoing the implementation process is critical or errors and costs could actually increase. An EHR assessment must be completed before the software packages can be selected to ensure it is conformed perfectly to the specialized needs of the hospital. According to the California Medical Association the assessment has two steps: 1.) Readiness Assessment; and 2.) Work Flow Analysis (Ginsberg et al., n.d.). The assessment should be done by a seasoned group of engineers, physicians, lab workers, billing staff, pharmacists, and nurses to collaborate so that each department increases patient safety and efficient care. The assessment should include a web-based demonstration that allows all stakeholders to identify gaps that would hinder their job responsibilities. Once the needs assessment has been done and vendors chosen as potential suppliers, the readiness assessment should begin. One of the most important data to collect is financial resources. Are more physicians going to be  hired that will increase training costs? Can the organization truly afford the upstart investment and ongoing computer support? Space considerations are also critical to evaluate because most closets are too small for the new EHR platforms that have huge servers. High-speed internet capabilities are a must for EHR data exchange between stakeholders. Moreover, are existing medical records planned to be thinned to put the data into the new system? If so, data needs to be destroyed according to HIPP protocol to protect patient confidentiality. The work flow analysis portion of the needs assessment looks at step-by-step procedures. Examples are scheduling, diagnostic tests, and reviewing tests, prescribing medication, clinical notes, and billing data (Ginsberg et al., n.d.). Other data to be analyzed for the EHR system should be medical history forms, lists of current medications vital signs, insurance, and referrals. The flow of steps in this planning process involves network upgrades, expanding server room space, a Medicare fraud plan, selection of three EHR vendors, visiting other hospitals using the systems, negotiating, and finally select the model that is best suited to all stakeholders. A 10-year study done by the Canada Health Info way about who should be consulted during adoption of an EHR system looked at 29 key stakeholders involved in establishing policy (Rozenblum et al., 2001). They found that stakeholders should be consulted from a bottom-up, clinical needs approach first because they will be the heaviest users of the system. This means physicians, nurses, certified nursing assistants, billers, lab workers, and pharmacy employees need to have significant input into selecting what aspects are most important. The number one reason for implementation failure is inadequate involvement of line-worker clinicians (Rozenblum et al., 2001). Therefore, the informatics team must work very closely with these stakeholders. Other critical stakeholders to consult are the finance department to ensure how much funding is available. Patients are also important stakeholders because no one wants their health information linked to a huge system that is insecure and prone to hacking confidential medical records. Policy makers at the executive organizational and governmental level also have powerful sway over which EHR is chosen. Lack of  collaboration among these diverse groups can delay implementation of the system for decades. Appropriate needs assessment provides relevant feedback to upper management. This helps these higher-ups make wise decisions based on financial resources, training needs for staff, vendor choice, and whether or not EHR is even necessary (Hartzler et al, 2013). Upper management is also provided with the ability to analyze which employees should have access to the system (or what parts of the system) to complete their designated tasks. Gaps between â€Å"wants† and â€Å"needs† can also be identified so that valuable resources are analyzed in cost-benefit analysis. Training needs or additional hiring of employees can also be anticipated to prevent glitches in the system due to human error. EHR systems can increase profit margins and protect patients from human error if assessed closely prior to purchase and implementation. References Ginsberg, D. (n.d.). Successful preparation and implementation of an electronic health records system. Best Practices: A guide for improving the efficiency and quality of your practice. Retrieved December 26, 2014 at https://www.cmanet.org/files/pdf/ehr/best-practices-7.pdf. Hartzler, A. et al. (2013). Stakeholder engagement: A key component of integrating genomic information into electronic health records. Genetics in Medicine, 15, 792-801. Rozenblum, R. (2001). A qualitative study of Canada’s experience with the implementation of electronic health information technology. CMAJ, 183(5), E281-E288.

Vegetarianism - To Meat Or Not To Meat Essay -- Healthy Lifestyle Essay

As children, one of the first things we learn is to recognize the friendly barnyard animals. We easily can spot the furry cow with the gentle eyes, the feathery chickens who run wildly about, and the pink pigs that roll in the mud. We may also sing about that nice farmer, Old McDonald, and all of his nice animals. The truth is that Old McDonald with a straw hat has been replaced by a business man in the hard hat. Ninety-five percent of the meat we eat does not come from Old McDonald's farm. Hens, chickens, turkeys, and over half of beef cattle, dairy cows, and pigs come from an "animal factory" (Sussman, 95) which is a mechanized environment. This new farming method finds blue skies, tall silos, and grassy hillsides good for calendars but, bad for business. Those pictures are not cost effective. Animals are not treated with the loving care of a farmer but, are treated like inmates on death row. Poultry, pigs, and calves are forced to live in total confinement never to see the light of day until they head to the slaughter house. Hens are frequently crowded into small cages which they may not leave for a year or two. Pregnant sows are often put in stalls that are their homes for three months at a time. After having her piglets, a sow may be pinned to the floor for four to seven weeks in order to keep the sow from rolling over on her babies. Cows may be fed steady diet of molasses laced saw dust, shredded newspaper, plastic pellets, poultry manure, and processed slaughter house wastes in order to gain weight faster. Confinement is so complete that the animals do not have room to move (206). Not only are the animals forced to live in this unnatural environment, they are also pumped full off antibiotics, hormones, steroids, and are dipped in pesticides. Over half the cattle and nearly all pigs, calves, and poultry are fed a steady diet of antibiotics and related Jarboe 2 medications to help control diseases. No o... ...though our bodies are designed to rely on vegetarian foods, modern man has changed his dietary habits to those of the carnivore, or meat eater. We may think of ourselves as carnivores but, our flat teeth are not designed to tear through hide, flesh, and bones. Tenderizer is put on meat so that it will be more easily chewed. Furthermore, the digestive system of the carnivore is designed to get rid of the meat it eats before it decays. The human digestive system is designed to break down complex carbohydrates and fibers like those of the herbivore (Sussman, 300). Taking a look past the cruel treatment of animals and the nutritional value of the vegetarian diet, maybe God did not intend for us to eat meat at all. In Genesis 1:29-30 God said: I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be your for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every plant for food. And it was so.

The Armistice of 1850

The Armistice of 1850 With the belief of their young country’s â€Å"manifest destiny†, and victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War, the United States of America conquered most of the western portion of their continent. While obtaining large territories of land through victories from warfare and at the cost of bargained prices, this proud nation found itself with an immense crisis sitting within the palms of their hands. As the improvement of the United States came through territorial gains, their triumphant progress was met with digression.Although new territories were under the possession of the United States, many leaders of this powerful nation were unsure whether their newly acquired land was fit to be a territory of free soil or slavery. While many proposed arguments for pro-slavery land, many counter acted with free soil proposals and arguments. During the year of 1850, the United States of America managed to ease the tension between those at opposite spe ctrums of this confrontation through the Compromise of 1850.Before the passage of the Compromise of 1850, many of the United States’ leaders found themselves at odds with one another. John C. Calhoun, a publically known pro-slavery Congressman, believed that slavery should not have been excluded from territories prior to admission to state hood. Calhoun thought that Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the nation’s newly acquired territories.In Calhoun’s Speech on the Admission of California- and the General State of the Union, he assesses the nature of the Union and the needs for its overall preservation. In the beginning of Calhoun’s speech, he clearly believed that the state of the Union was at harm due to its division, and was at the verge of great disaster and disunion. Although Calhoun did not provide a solution for the unity of the country, he did on the other hand argue that the power of the Union rested upon the Northern majorit y. At that time there was nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression,† wrote Calhoun. Calhoun justified his opinion on the North oppressing the South through the South’s deprivation of territory in the Northwest Ordinance, the Missouri Compromise, and the Oregon Territory.Calhoun, like the other representatives of the southern states, realized that the institution of slavery would either have to be fought for or the Union would eventually abolish it. â€Å"It will be found in the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are, consistently with honor and safety, in the Union,† stated the Congress man. Calhoun believed that the South had no compromise to offer to the North, but only that of the Constitution.The Congressman placed the burden and the responsibility of the preservation of the nation within the Northerners hands. Opposed to Calhoun’s view, Congressman David Wilmot believed that the institution of slavery should have been banned from all the newly acquired territory of the west. He was adamant that Congress possessed the power to regulate slavery in these new territories. David Wilmot’s Wilmot Proviso urged the banning of slavery within any territory acquired from  Mexico from the  Mexican American War  or any territory acquired in the future. Provided,  That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted,† wrote Wilmot. Although the Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful amendment, Wilmot’s view of free soil became a rallying point for opponents of slavery.Wilmot was adamant that all land gained within the United States of America should be free of slavery. While Calhoun and Wilmot demonstrated the extreme views of the pro-slavery South and the free soil North, the Compromise of 1850 managed to settle the sectional divided views of Congress for the short term. The  Compromise of 1850  was an amalgamation of eight distinct orders which managed to ease the confrontation between the  free states of the North and the slave states  of the  South  in regards to the newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War.The compromise was drafted by  Kentucky Congressman,  Henry Clay, in which avoided  Southern secession, reduced sectional conflict, and prevented civil war. The Compromise of 1850 allowed for California to be admitted as one of the States of the Union, as long as it was a free state. It also banned slavery in Washington D. C. â€Å"Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. † This compromise also made Texas surrender its border to the Rio del Norte to New Mexico, and allowed Texas to transfer its debt to that the national government.The Compromise of1850 also prohibited Congress from introducing or excluding slavery from the nation’s newly acquired territory, and ordered that the territorial governments were to decide upon the issue of slavery. In other words, the new territories’ actions on the institution of slavery came from popular sovereignty. Although slave trade was prohibited from Washington D. C. , the compromise managed to preserve slavery, while demanding â€Å"for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor i n any State, who may escape into any other State or Territory in the Union†.Northerners became infuriated of the idea that runaway slaves, upon capture, were to be returned to their masters of the South. This precedent became known as The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This act became the sole prize of the South for their compromise in allowing the admission of California to be a free state. Not only did the South manage to keep their traditional ways of enslaving Africans, or African Americans, but they also managed to gain more power over their slaves.While many viewed the Compromise of 1850 with pleasure, William Seward opposed Clay’s compromise which managed to cause momentary peace within the Union. Seward found discontent with the compromise because it was founded on many unconstitutional grounds. Seward believed that the states were unequal due to slavery, and that slavery should not exist. He thought that slavery was unconstitutional whether classified as property or not, because â€Å"it is (was) repugnant to the law of nature and of nations†. In no way did Seward find the compromise constitutional because he felt slavery was unconstitutional.On the flip side, Henry Clay believed that the Compromise of 1850 was a chance for his nation to become reunited. He demonstrated this by addressing the president in A General Review of the debate on the Compromise Bills by stating, â€Å"I believe from the bottom of my soul, that the measure is the re-union of this Union. I believe that it is the dove of peace, which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the capitol, carries the glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all the remotest extremities of this distracted land. It’s clear that Clay believed the compromise was drawn out for the betterment of his young nation, in hopes that it would reconcile their sectional differences, and become one whole nation again. In 1850, many believed that the Compromise of 1850 had s olved the sectional conflicts between the Northern free-soilers and the Southern slave holders. Although there were those who opposed the compromise, for the time being it managed to ease the tension between a divided nation.Although the Compromise of 1850 was an act in which all parties had to give up important ground, it allowed the nation to momentarily fade into bliss for a couple of years. It’s hard to believe that the expansionists of our country would have predicted these problems while trying to improve our country. Our nation’s â€Å"manifest destiny† at the time seemed to be the answer to improve upon a young nation, but the newly acquired territories from Mexico only stirred up intense emotions and caused for greater division within the nation. Although the Compromise of 1850 managed to ease tension, it ultimately did not cease sectional conflict.

An Analysis of Solipsism in Kant’s Critique of Pure...

An Analysis of Solipsism in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason My goal is to examine solipsism and discover how Immanuel Kants Transcendental Idealism could be subject to a charge of being solipsistic. Following this, I will briefly review the destructive impact this charge would have on certain of Kant’s positions. After the case for solipsism is made, I intend to describe a possible line of rebuttal from Kant’s perspective that could be made to the charge. The issue of solipsism is intriguing in that it seems to be universally rejected as a basis of metaphysics. Yet, the modern tradition has had difficulty supporting this rejection. Antony Flew defines solipsism as, The theory that I am the sole existent. To be a solipsist I†¦show more content†¦Thereafter, the modern tradition was challenged to prove the existence of an external world and the existence of other minds. Once we concede...that the immediate objects of sense experience are mind-dependent (ideas, impressions, sense data, etc.), it is indeed questionable whether we can argue validly to the existence or nature of a mind-independent external world. (Flew: 330) Within the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant affirms that our capacity to perceive objects in the external world is dependent upon the subjects imposition of certain conditions of the possibility of experience. Time, space and the categories are among these. Thus, human beings are capable of viewing only the appearance and not things as they are in themselves. Now a thing in itself cannot be known through mere relations; and we may therefore conclude that since outer sense gives us nothing but mere relations, this sense can contain in its representation only the relation of an object to the subject, and not the inner properties of the object in itself. This also holds true of inner sense, not only because the representations of the outer senses constitute the proper material with which we occupy our mind, but because the time in which we set these representations, which is itself antecedent to the consciousness of them in experience, and which underlies them as the formal condition of the mode in which we posit them in theShow MoreRelatedBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagessuch as numbers, elements, universals, and gods; the analysis of patterns of reasoning and argument; the nature of the good life and the importance of understanding and knowledge in order to pursue it; the explication of the concept of justice, and its rel ation to various political systems[8]. In this period the crucial features of the philosophical method were established: a critical approach to received or established views, and the appeal to reason and argumentation. [pic] [pic] St. Thomas AquinasRead MoreDid Wordsworth or Coleridge Have Greater Influence on Modern Criticism?8605 Words   |  35 Pagesyet still very much interested in reason and analysis.  The Romantics often define themselves in opposition to the Age of Reason.  They borrow some ideas from it, but basically they are a kind of revolution, a reaction against what was going on in the age before. Now although they are still interested in mental faculties, like epistemology, they replace the 18th emphasis onanalysis, with a new focus on  synthesis[2]. In addition, they privilege imagination over reason and judgment. Of course, we talked