POLICY/REGULATION FACT SHEET
As a professional nurse, you are expected to apply your expertise to patient care. On occasion, you will also be expected to share that expertise.
With evolving technology and continuous changes to regulations designed to keep up these changes, there is usually a need to share information and expertise to inform colleagues, leadership, patients, and other stakeholders.
In this Assignment, you will study a recent nursing informatics-related healthcare policy, and you will share the relevant details via a fact sheet designed to inform and educate.
Fact Sheet: The 21st Century Cures Act and Its Impact on Nursing Informatics
Introduction
Gabay (2017) states the 21st Century Cures Act was developed in 2016. The Act was developed to advance medical innovation, improve patient access to health information, and modernise care delivery. The Act affects the healthcare industry, especially nursing informatics, and includes multiple initiatives to improve patient care quality.
Impact on System Implementation
Rodriguez et al. (2020) indicate that the Act fosters interoperability across health information technology (HIT) systems. This implies that HIT systems should be able to share data with other systems effortlessly. The Cures Act obliges HIT practitioners to adopt standardized application programming interfaces (APIs). The interfaces will then facilitate data exchange among disparate systems to achieve interoperability. This requirement ensures that healthcare providers can access patient data easily, regardless of the system used (Gabay, 2017).
Impact on Clinical Care, Patient/Provider Interactions, and Workflow
This Act allows patients to access their health records electronically, including clinician notes and test results. Additionally, patients can exchange their medical records with other medical professionals. This, therefore, encourages care coordination and patient involvement. The Cures Act’s provision intends to better patient-provider communication, enhance patient outcomes, and boost patient satisfaction (Kesselheim & Avorn, 2017).
Organizational Policies and Procedures
Our healthcare organization has implemented policies and procedures that align with the Cures Act’s requirements. These policies include using certified HIT systems, implementing appropriate privacy and security measures, and providing patient access to their health information. We also ensure that our HIT systems can interchange data with other systems via established APIs.
Conclusion
To conclude, the healthcare sector is greatly affected by this Act. It strives to enhance patient outcomes, enables individuals to access their health information, and encourages interoperability among HIT systems. To ensure compliance and deliver high-quality patient care, our medical facility has put in place policies and practices that adhere to the Cures Act’s criteria.
References
Gabay, M. (2017). 21st century cures act. Hospital pharmacy, 52(4), 264.
Kesselheim, A. S., & Avorn, J. (2017). New “21st Century Cures” legislation: speed and ease vs science. Jama, 317(6), 581-582.
Rodriguez, J. A., Clark, C. R., & Bates, D. W. (2020). Digital health equity as a necessity in the 21st century cures act era. Jama, 323(23), 2381-2382.