Information System in Healthcare - Essay Example

Information System in Healthcare (College) Information System in Healthcare Introduction The selection and acquisition process of an information system for health care raise a series of potential challenges to the management. Obviously secure and effective information systems are essential for health care managements as they determine the quality and cost of the health care. Hence, modern health care managements today give great emphasis on the selection and implementation of information systems.

While developing and implementing an information system, organizational structure and economic environment of the health care firm play an undeniable role in determining its efficacy. The primary objective of health care information system is to “address the pragmatic needs of patients, clinical staff, and healthcare organizations to deliver efficient, high-quality care” (Trustworthy information systems for health care). This paper will describe the various phases of the system selection and how organization’s goals drive this selection process with reference to its stakeholders.

The process of selecting and acquiring an information system As proposed by the WHO (n.d.), integrating various sources of information is necessary for all forms of organizations in order to improve their operational efficiency. The information collected from several resources are gathered and processed in order to convert the collected information into a meaningful output. Manuel efforts in this regard were replaced by technologically developed information systems. Any form of written, oral or electronic communication constitutes information systems in organizations.

According to Sofroniou (1998, p.47), successful organizations feed their enormous knowledge bases in information centers. In the case of information system selection for a health care organization, some recent strategies have developed. Firstly, the organization must establish a steering committee and a project committee. As Neal (1993) describes, the steering committee mainly deals with policy guidance, decision formulation, and allocation of budget expenses and overall monitoring of the project; whereas the project committee manages needs analysis, day to day operations and other processes related with system implementation.

The second phase of this process includes a needs assessment that focuses on the organization’s mission statement and strategic plan. In the third phase, a request for information (RFI) and a request for proposal (RFP) are designed. In the words of Jharkharia and Shankar (2007), the RFI collects maximum information in order to meet the firms’ specifications effectively; RFP also manages contractual information. However, it is advisable to seek the assistance of some external consultants for developing quality information systems.

Evidently, an organization always intends to improve its operational efficiency and thereby economic performance. The information systems coordinate information efficiently and continuously in order to attain the long-term objectives of the business. Therefore, modern organizations spend considerable portion of their budget on establishing effective information system of their own to increase the viability of the business operations. As stated in Trustworthy information systems for health care (n.d.), healthcare organizations in particular must ensure the clinicians easy access to information; at the same time, it is essential to protect the security of clinical information.

This objective can be easily met, if the organization practices an effective information system. Similarly, according to the above stated article, healthcare information systems employ personal sensor devices with intent to ensure the security of sensor data collection and thereby to monitor patient outcomes. This feature also adds to the fundamental goals of the health care organization. To illustrate, since the information system works to ensure the organizational privacy, this system would add value to shareholder interests and thereby firm’s sustainability.

It has been identified that a well organized information system can play a vital role in reducing the firm’s operational costs, which is the best way to maximize profitability. Moreover, this concept would assist a health care organization to deliver improved services to its customers (patients) and thus it can increase its market stature. Likewise, health care organizations’ stakeholders also play a vital role in the selection and acquisition process of an information system. The key stakeholders include patients, clinicians and other providers.

Before adopting an information system, the project management team collects suggestions from the part of patients since they are the primary beneficiaries of this system. The project team also considers the opinion of clinicians and other healthcare providers in order to improve the standard of the system. Moreover, as health care organizations raise investments from shareholders, the project team is liable to give great emphasis on shareholders’ interests while formulating an information system.

Conclusion From the above study, it is precise that the process of selecting and acquiring an information system involve several phases that make the whole system effective. Since the organizations always aim smooth and flawless operations, they drive the selection of an information system. The organizations’ stakeholders also considerably contribute to the selection and acquisition process. References Jharkharia, S & Shankar, R. (2007). “Selection of logistics service provider: An analytic network process (ANP) approach”.

Omega: The International Journal of Management Science. 35, 274-289. Neal, T. (1993). “Evaluating and Selecting an Information System”. American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy. 50 (1): 117-120. Sofroniou, A. (1998). Business Information Systems. UK: PsySys Limited. “Trustworthy information systems for health care”. Dartmouth College: Institute for Security, Technology, and Society. Retrieved from http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/projects/tish.html WHO. “Components of a strong health information system: A guide to the HMN Framework”.

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