Final answer:
EHRs help with clinical documentation improvement through prompts for additional information, natural language processing for more effective documentation, and decision support tools for improved patient care.
Step-by-step explanation:
EHRs, or electronic health records, can help with clinical documentation improvement in several ways:
- They can prompt physicians for additional information: EHRs can include fields or prompts that require physicians to provide complete and accurate documentation. For example, when ordering a medication, the EHR may require the physician to specify the dosage and frequency, ensuring that important details are not overlooked.
- Natural language processing can allow for more effective documentation in less time: EHRs often utilize natural language processing algorithms that automatically extract relevant information from free-text clinical notes. This can save physicians time and effort in documenting patient encounters.
- Computer interfaces can provide physicians with decision support tools improving patient care: EHRs can integrate clinical decision support tools, such as alerts and reminders, that can help physicians make evidence-based decisions. For example, if a physician is prescribing a medication that may interact with another medication the patient is taking, the EHR can provide an alert to prevent potential harm.