Thesis on "Healthcare Information System"

Thesis 11 pages (3682 words) Sources: 13 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Nursing

Healthcare Information Systems

Key Words

HealthCare Information Systems (HIS)

Types and uses

Components of HIS and different kind of users

Advantages of HIS

Improving patient safety

Disadvantages of HIS

Lack of user proficiency

Medical Errors

Relating to Health Care Information Systems

Types of Errors

Individual

System

Extent

Factors that contribute to errors

Areas for Improvement

Health Information Systems have the potential to be very useful in the health care arena. They provide the potential to reduce costs while improving patient safety. It has been found though that there is also the possibility of errors occurring. These errors have been seen as being caused by either individuals or by the systems themselves. The objective of this paper will be to explore the factors that contribute to medical errors while using HealthCare Information Systems, which lead to unintended consequences. It will also offer an overview of the areas that need improvement as related to patient safety with recommendations for future strategies.

Key words: Health Information Systems (HIS), contributing factors, unintended consequences, patient safety, mobile computing errors.

Introduction

Health care organizations are challenged every day by the need to manage and integrate their clinical, financial and operational information. In order to meet this challenge an organization can use a Healthcare Information System (HIS) in order to help them. Healthcare Information Systems deal with the resources, devices, and methods that are required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in healthcare. Health information tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. These tools are used in the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health and medical research (Hebda and Czar, 2008).

The goal of using Healthcare Information Systems it to help improve patient safety and care while reducing overall healthcare costs. While these things are usually realized it has been seen that there have been instances of errors occurring. Determining the causes of these errors and implementing plans to make sure that they don't occur in the future is what needs to happen so that everyone involved is assured accurate and safe healthcare.

Healthcare Information Systems

In order to improve the quality of patient care, and at the same time keep up with the pace of the increased needs of the population for healthcare services Healthcare Information Systems have been put into place. The strategy that is used is often very comprehensive and addresses all niches of the care delivery processes. They are often founded on the enterprise information systems that will aim to support end-to-end business processes in the healthcare domain. Two major requirements are usually the focus: (1) to provide efficient healthcare-related data management in support of decision-making processes; (2) to support a continuous process of healthcare resource spending optimization (Gvozdanovi?, Kon-ar, Kojundzi? And Jezidzi?, 2007).

Types, Uses and Components

E-health is based on various information and communication technologies that are being used in several different ways. Some of the new technologies, such as email, are already in use in most hospitals. Others technologies, such as videoconferencing or the internet, are used more modestly, although their use is growing. Still others represent areas of untapped opportunity. In all cases it is important that technologies enable the delivery of health services to all primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare providers (Brommeyer, 2005).

Advances in wireless technology have allowed for the rapid development of mobile applications. The mobile revolution has brought about dramatic and fundamental changes to our daily life. It has influenced the way we live, the way we do things, and the way we take care of our health. In the healthcare industry, mobile applications have provide a new frontier in offering better care and services to patients, and a more flexible and mobile way of communicating with suppliers and patients. Mobile applications provide important real time data for patients, physicians, insurers, and suppliers. It has also revolutionized the way information is managed in the healthcare industry and redefined the way that doctors and patients communicate (Keng and Shen, 2006).

Over the last several years, wireless devices, such as handheld PCs, PDAs, messaging devices, electronic organizers and smart phones, have become increasingly popular and common. Mobile-device ownership has largely been boosted by the evolution of mobile telecommunication networks and the mobile Internet. The mobile Internet and wireless technologies that have come on the scene have expanded into immediate and personalized mobile environments. Along with the mobile revolution, mobile healthcare has revolutionized the healthcare industry (Keng and Shen, 2006). Wireless communication has been used to equip a mobile healthcare workforce and ensure that ambulatory patients in need of monitoring are in contact with the necessary systems and services. Healthcare providers are regularly carry hand held computers to the bedside, whether in the hospital or at home (Brommeyer, 2005).

Advantages of Information Technology has made great strides in many areas around the world. It has not only brought the world closer together, but it has allowed the world's economy to become a single mutually supporting system. This allows for information to be shared quickly and efficiently. The world has developed into a global community due to the help of information technology allowing countries like Chile and Japan who are not only separated by distance but also by language to shares ideas and information with each other (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008). In the area of healthcare this has allowed for Doctors from all over the world to consult on cases in an easier and quicker fashion.

Because of information technology, communication has also become cheaper, quicker, and much more efficient. It is now possible to communicate with anyone around the globe by simply text messaging them or sending them an email for an almost instantaneous response. The internet has also opened up face-to-face direct communication from different parts of the world thanks to the helps of video conferencing (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008).

Information technology has helped healthcare organization to computerize their business processes in order to streamline them to make them extremely cost effective and efficient. This has increased productivity and given rise to profits that means better pay and less strenuous working conditions (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008).

Information technology has also helped to bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow for the exchange of views and ideas, thus increasing awareness and reducing prejudice. This technology has also made it possible for businesses to be open around the clock. One of the best advantages that information technology has created is that of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of it (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008).

The biggest advantage that Information Technology has brought to the healthcare arena is that of improved patient safety. Because allows easy access to information, this new technology is fundamental to the creation of more patient and less provider focused health services. It is because of this use that improved quality has been seen where technology of care, change, convenience, cost and culture all come together. E-health has been defined the use of electronic information and communications technologies to provide and support healthcare wherever the participants are located (Brommeyer, 2005).

Additional advantages of Healthcare Information Technology include: a) sensitivity, uniformity and efficiency, b) timeliness of the availability of data and c) ease of integration into automated systems (Lazarus, Kleinman, Dashevsky, DeMaria, Platt, 2001). All of this works to increase the quality of patient care while decreasing the overall costs of healthcare.

Disadvantages of While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed. Although information technology has made communication quicker, easier and more convenient, it has also bought about privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008). In the healthcare area the concern is with the flow of information and the privacy issues that surround HIPAA.

Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as technology is every changing. This means that healthcare workers must be in a constant learning mode. In order to stay on top of the ever changing environment it is important that workers undergo an ongoing training program that ensures that workers are able to use the new technology as it is intended (Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology, 2008).

The integration of Information Technology into the healthcare arena has sometimes been slow. Some reasons have included technical issues, process problems, and costs. Not only has the uptake been slow, there are other drawbacks as well. The primary one being re-entry of… READ MORE

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