Emeasurement
For this discussion, eMeasurement is defined as the secondary use of electronic data to populate standardized performance measures (National Quality Forum, 2013a). The prerequisites for eMeasurement include standardized performance measures in an electronic format; clinical information systems that capture structured, coded data; and administrative and clinical workflows that facilitate consistent documentation or capture of the data needed to populate the electronic measures (AHA, 2012). In addition, a standard approach for quality measurement beyond the organizational level is needed to support the use of eMeasures for benchmarking. Multiple challenges related to these prerequisites exist that make it difficult to build linkages between nursing care and patient outcomes. This discussion will describe some of these challenges.