A team of researchers at the University of Missouri is working to refine electronic health record (EHR) technology. The goal is to increase its efficiency and cost-saving benefits for long-term care.

The team, which comprises members of the School of Nursing, University Hospital, School of Medicine and College of Engineering, is attempting to develop a comprehensive EHR system that will enhance nursing care coordination by integrating clinical information systems with passive monitoring data. Access to comprehensive data should help provide clinicians with more complete medical records, as well as improve their decision making process, according to the report. Besides increased efficiency and accuracy, researchers hope the system will improve patient outcomes and reduce long-term care costs.

Encompassing all measures is key to enhanced and efficient clinical decision making, according to researcher Marilyn Rantz with the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. The MU system is being tested and refined at TigerPlace, an independent senior-living facility. The study appears in a recent edition of the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.