The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with backing from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced the development of a new software that can help better Electronic Health Records (EHRs) for the care of children.
Even though the healthcare industry has seen a spike in practices switching to EHRs, there have been few EHRs created with children’s needs in mind. This has led to gaps in functionality, data elements and other areas to occur when treating children. The new children’s EHR format provides a blueprint for EHRs to meet the needs of health care providers and pediatric patients through information technology and insights from children’s health experts.
The program focuses on the types of health care components most relevant for children. One feature will include sorting data into topic areas specific to children such as: prenatal and newborn screening tests, immunizations, growth data, information for children with special health care needs and child abuse reporting. The exchange of data will also be specific to children, focusing on data collected in school-based, primary, and inpatient care settings.
More information about the children’s EHR format is available on the AHRQ website.
