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Taking a Quality Assurance Program From Paper to Electronic Health Records: One Dental School's Experience
Author(s) -
Filker Phyllis J.,
Muckey Erin Joy,
Kelner Steven M.,
KodishStav Jodi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2009.73.9.tb04797.x
Subject(s) - quality assurance , health care , electronic health record , medical education , quality (philosophy) , health records , quality management , health information technology , medicine , nursing , management system , operations management , political science , engineering , philosophy , epistemology , law , external quality assessment , pathology
The Obama administration is seeking to increase access to and improve the efficiency of the health care system in the United States. One aspect of those efforts is a push towards the utilization of electronic health records (EHRs) by health care providers. Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine (NSU‐CDM) opened its doors in 1997 and began its evolution from paper charts to EHRs in 2006. AxiUm, a computer‐run patient record and clinical management system, has become an integral part of the college's quality assurance program and its students’ clinical education. Since the introduction of axiUm, the school has already noticed an increase in the quality of patient care due to improved oversight of patient management and the ability to more efficiently track treatment outcomes. Over time, the system will enable data collected by students providing care in the clinics to be quantified. Opposition to EHRs tends to stem primarily from the amount of time required for users to gain proficiency in the new technology, as well as from the initial cost to the provider. But there is no better place to begin this learning process regarding the importance and utilization of EHR systems than universities, where health professions students can acquire a comfort level with EHRs in an academic environment that they may then implement in their future practice.