I had never heard of HealthInfoNet and I’ve lived in Maine for the majority of my life. The presentation intrigued me, and I wish I had known about it sooner. I think it is a fantastic tool to share information and allow many people in healthcare access to vital information about their patients. I think the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in nursing is necessary and has helped documentation and accessibility of health information tremendously. I think with the technology we have today, it only makes sense to use it for the good and health of people. If the necessary steps are taken to provide confidentiality, I do not see why EHR shouldn’t be used.
Health Information Exchange (HIE) has improved the way we record and share medical records. This is done in a secure way that upholds confidentiality. I believe HIE has improved the profession of nursing in many ways. The use of EHR has helped with accessibility and ease of documenting and searching for patient information. All rooms can have their own computer for each patient and more computers available in nurse’s stations and other rooms. This allows nurses and other health care professionals to have plenty of access to patient information wherever they may be. The fact that it is done online and will automatically show up everywhere, means that each person on the healthcare team can get constant up to date info on their patient. This accessible and up to date information is important to nurses and helps determine how they care for their patients in the best way.
Now that I know about HealthInfoNet, I would like to use it in my clinical setting and once I start practicing as a RN. It would be beneficial to have access to records from other hospitals and healthcare facilities. This information may help with treating the patient and give a better overall view of the patient’s health status. Having access to more records can help fill in blanks and create a holistic picture of what a patient has gone through. They may have forgotten trips to hospitals or other information related to past visits. HealthInfoNet allows us to take a deeper dive and find helpful data that our patient’s may not think to share or that they do not remember. I will be sure to ask nurses and my instructors if they use HealthInfoNet and start utilizing it in my care.
