Impact of Health Information Technology on Quality, Efficiency, and Costs of Medical Care - Term Paper Example

? IMPACT OF H. I. T IN HEALTH CARE s) al Affiliation(s) Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 3 Introduction 4 Public Health Information 5 Standard Health Information System Model 7 Common Health Service and Health Information Issues 9 Health Information Technology 11 Reason to Use Health Information Technology 11 Common HIT Application and their Role in Achieving Quality Healthcare 13 Health Management Information System 14 Electronic Health Records 14 Decision Support System 15 Hospital Information System (HIS) 15 Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) 16 Conclusion 16 References 17 Abstract Health Information Technology (HIT) offers the umbrella structure to define the detailed control of health data and its safe exchange between customers, givers, state, and quality bodies, and insurers. As such, this paper presents how its responsibility in public wellbeing is incompatible since it plays a key role in premature diagnosis of infectious ailment outbreaks within the nation. Further, the paper will discuss how HIT leads to increased tracking of chronic ailment control, supervising health care schedules and coverage, testing of health care usage, and in creating transparent and evidence founded decisions for wellbeing system interferences. In addition, the paper will show how it increases the healthcare through lowering medical faults with an assurance that the total health care givers have correct and timely data. Introduction Public wellbeing is the science and art of stopping ailment, extending life, and supporting wellbeing by the organized attempts and informed selections of community, institutions, public and private, societies, and people1. The target is to stop rather than cure an ailment by observation of cases and the support of healthy trends. This would simply be accomplished when the data associated to the wellbeing of the society arrives to the healthcare experts, planner, legislators, and administrators at the correct time where and when needed. For the past few years, the execution of HIT has turned more widespread in health care sceneries. First, they were applied mainly for management and monetary purpose; however, in current’s ambitious and problematic healthcare setting, the health care givers fully rely on health data technology for timely and immediate availability of health data (Helmchen, 2008). At any given moment in patient meeting or thereafter, HIT permits the giver to gather, keep, retrieve, and transmit data within and across healthcare sceneries2. The health department has often depended on technologies. The WHO claimed that they make the backbone of the services to stop, detect, and cure disease and ailments. Health data technology has the capability to form a big contribution in increasing the availability and quality of health care services whereas maintaining costs. HIT input on public health is unlimited in terms of offering optional, emergency, and lasting clinical care; educating society; increasing nutrition and hygiene; and offering further sanitary life status. These in turn eventually involve huge social and economic reforms, as several health problems go well past the wellbeing department (American College of Medical Quality, 2010). Public Health Information Figure 1 below shows the kind of public health data needed by the healthcare experts, managers, and legislators at every level of healthcare structure. The data is needed not only to know the health condition of the population but also to understand the requirement of the population living in a described geographical region. To determine the usage of healthcare service offered at main, minor, and tertiary level, health care administrators need the data in association to healthcare usage, healthcare coverage among others (Burns, Bradley, Weiner & Shortell, 2013). Health Information Needs and Levels of Information Generation A vital factor to execute Health Information Technology (HIT) is to know what to gather, where to gather, whom to account, and the way these data will be applied and through whom since these are applied to offer healing, palliative, preventive, and rehabilitative care to the people3. Due to this, it is needed to identify the data needs, tools for information gathering, and levels of information creation. Once these are described and identified, it is simple for the administrators and givers to move on with the execution practice in a suitable manner. Figure 2 shows that information gathering commences from the family visit to the sick, equipment, districts, countrywide, and international level where the quantity of information created was more at the minimum level as contrasted with higher. To create evidence founded conclusion, health care givers, managers, ad legislators require to know the person's health condition, weight of sickness, the kind of health care services needed at every level, and the progress of the tasks/ schedules at every level of healthcare structure. Unless these full, correct, and sufficient health data arrives to the consumers in a timely manner, the objective of accomplishing “wellbeing for all” will be unfeasible (Chaudhry et. al, 2006). Figure 2: Levels of Data Collection Standard Health Information System Model Figure 3 below demonstrates the Health Information System (HIS) Model and its features in a public healthcare scenario4. This model requires to be established prior to the real execution of health data technology since it will serve like a framework for the same. It defines that the healthcare departments and people are the key origin of data where the information gathering have to be finished applying a normal complaint information-gathering task5. The data’s are then kept and later applied for the breakdown and accounting to the instant and core level of healthcare system. Health data system executors, at the local and middle level use these for offering quality healthcare to the people and as well solving several matters in association with healthcare service and wellbeing data system. Whereas executing Health Information Technology; the healthcare structure of the nation must consider the replica to accomplish superior suitability and sustainability of the structure. The managers and legislators must formulate the significant rules, share sufficient resources, and design practices where the customer down the chain can achieve an optimum advantage of the structure (DeNisco & Barker, 2013). Figure 3: Health Information System Model Common Health Service and Health Information Issues There are several health-associated matters arising because of lack of wellbeing data promotion and timely reporting, as shown in the table below. These matters require to be handled prior to the execution of Health Information Technology. Table 1: Common Health Services and Associated Information System Issues Common Health Service Issue Corresponding HIS Issue Challenges in offering important distribution continuously Lack of correct and prompt stock inventory account Insufficient diagnosis and management of communicable ailments Failure to get accounts of identifiable communicable ailments from Government services Insufficient planning and programming of significant tasks and services at item and district level Specific equipment kinds or service levels not frequently delivering routine function plans and supervising accounts Insufficient attention is provided to looking for and serving great threat and insignificant people Patient and clinic documentations fail to determine great-risk patients, households, and societies Insufficient health safety and service offered to poor people Failure of current people information which determines less benefited population clusters Insufficient action by health personnel at facility and district level to supervise and rectify shortages in service reporting and quality Personnel at facility and district level do not keep documentations and present information in a way that facilitate supervising of reporting and quality Great personnel turnover Lack of precise work definitions and career growth opportunities Health Information Technology has the total capabilities to solve the matters faced by the healthcare givers in controlling health data of the people6. Healthcare system of the nation must look ahead in executing this technology in offering quality healthcare to the people and the society; however, prior to that, it is needed to know the health data technology, its usage, reason to apply and its influence (Mantas, 2012). Health Information Technology Health Information Technology (HIT) offers the umbrella structure to define the detailed control of health data and its safe exchange between customers, givers, state, and quality bodies, and insurers. Health data technology (HIT) is in broad improvingly perceived as the major promising tool for increasing the whole quality, security, and effectiveness of health submission system (Helmchen, 2008). Reason to Use Health Information Technology Wilson & Smith proposed that the innovative application of computer technology is one of the major promising ways of increasing quality, promptness, lucidity, presentation, and application of significant data for public healthcare control. The eventual purpose of health data technology in healthcare is to offer maximum data promotion to the healthcare experts, administrators, and legislators for quality conclusion making, care, and cure. The HIT offer highly protective, economical, simple-to-apply, often accessible, point-of-care usage in (Mukhopadhyay & Postolache, 2013): Increasing schedule effectiveness through gathering, processing, and breaking down a huge amount of information instantly; as the physical systems are by state paper-intensive7. Administrators are always hidden under the mountain of information outcome in which they lack the capacity to navigate the data for quality conclusion making. Offering a broad diversity of result and feedback accounts aimed for several level of the health system from a unitary information set or through mixing information sets. Lowering the duplication of job where the information can be inserted once and will be accessible at any area to the caregivers, managers, and legislators. Automatic validation aids the caregivers in increasing the quality of information gathering by automatic validation during information entry and automatic readiness for instant feedback accounts on faults for personal health equipment. Increasing analysis and data appearance to facilities information presentation and application for conclusion making Decentralization information analysis and application to lower the information entry blockage at the middle level and offer control data to district manager in a prompt way. Training health staff by computer founded interactive lesson for personal instruction and progressing education. Controlling the information for supervising the achievement of health schedule aims and goals Integrating the networks of givers and examiners in breaking down, debating, and interpreting the care practice and results for its progressive development Incorporating service statistics information with previously computerized information on population, health infrastructure, and or monetary control Accessing the websites to look for data concerning new items and advances to service conveyance, and exchanging data with other health care employees within the Increasing information dissemination through offering online civic access of information by internet World Wide Web sheets Establishing decision support tools for arranging raised service coverage and transport Modeling and motivation to enable arranging through breaking down forecasted results for provided contribution and state. Assisting the main health organizations, district, and countrywide health group in healthcare resource identifications Enable customers, buyers, and prayers to obtain data they require to promote their conclusions Gives alerts and reminders to assist stop faults and exclusions Controls plan of care implementation to make sure orders are performed with less obstruction Coordinates care along the complete healthcare range Quickens workflows through smoothening activities, like programming, ordering, information entry, and creating forms and reports Thus, the above explanation gives the reason to apply HIT in healthcare scenario; however, it is as well needed to know the kinds of usage needed at every level of healthcare sceneries for different clinical and management tasks (Nagle, 2012). Common HIT Application and their Role in Achieving Quality Healthcare Several usages prevail in association to the control of health data as well as in offering of healthcare services8. The main common ones are (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010): Health Management Information System Health Management Information System (HMIS) is a data system purposely designed to help in the control and arranging of health schedules, as counteracted to submission of care. Health Management Information System integrate the total information required by the legislators, clinicians, and health service utilizers to increase and cover demography health. Investment in HMIS currently may reap many advantages, like: a. Assisting decision makers to diagnose and manage appearing and widespread health challenges, supervise continuation towards health objectives, and support impartiality b. Empowering people and societies with prompt and known health-associated data, and force developments in quality of services c. Reinforcing the proof foundation for efficient health rules, allowing testing of scale-up attempts, and facilitating creativity by study d. Increasing governance, collecting new resources, and making sure of transparency in the manner they are applied (Pescosolido, 2011). Electronic Health Records The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a longitudinal computerized documentation of patient health data created through one or several encounters in all care delivery sceneries9. It promotes healthcare givers with maximum data in progression, effective, and quality incorporated healthcare10. It has the challenge list that precisely defines that patient clinical challenges and the present condition of every challenge. It handles patient information confidentiality broadly, and can be connected by local and distant understanding, bibliographic, management, or literature database. It is elastic and enlargeable to promote not just present’s basic data requirements; however, as well the emerging requirements of every clinical field and sub-field (Rodrigues, 2010). Decision Support System A Decision Support System (DSS) is associative, elastic, and assumable computer founded data system established for promoting decision making associated to the answer of specific control functions11. It aids the clinicians in looking for health data of the patient needed to detect the patient status and offer the progression of care. Despite a broad diversity of patient’s data kept in the computer, it aids healthcare givers to get the patient information with no extra attempt. As patient care engaged experts such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other assistant personnel and every individual wants patient’s data at their fingertip as and when needed. DSS offers simple flow of data amidst these experts to offer precise care. Being a computerized system, the DSS offers legibility of information that aids the health care experts to escape the complication in looking for different outcomes (Rouse & Cortese, 2010). Hospital Information System (HIS) HIS is an open structure that tries to incorporate and communicate the external and internal flow of data inside a health center and offer the functions universal for total application. It promotes the healthcare givers in actual time access of patient’s data, readying of operation record, maintaining tarck of management past of the sick across sites, numerous access to data, lowering in transcription job, accumulation of information in numerous shapes among others. A properly designed, incorporated hospital data system, fitted to the particular requirements of a specific hospital, may increase the output of a hospital personnel, permit every department and service center to manage its personal data processing and input to the quality of the sick’s care (Topol, 2012). Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) CPOE is a practice of computerized entry of medical practitioners’ guidelines for the cure of patients under their care12. These orders are talked over a computer system to the health personnel or to the units (pharmacy, laboratory, or radiology) accountable for satisfying the order. CPOE reduces impediment in order finishing, lowers faults associated to handwriting or transcription, permits order admission at place-of-care or off-location, offers fault-testing for replica or wrong dosages or evaluations, and eases stock and posting of costs. Order Entry is in the field of the pharmacist since it is the pharmacist role to confirm any admission into the structure about the application of medications inside the health center. Order explanation appeal will be improved through increased communication of cooperation amidst the health care group (Wager & Glaser, 2013). Conclusion HIT is often considered as a promising tool for the enhancement of healthcare of people including the demography13. The utilizations like EHR, CPOE, HMIS, HIS, and the rest offer simple and prompt access of health data and field particular understanding to the healthcare experts, plotter, managers, legislators, and countrywide health bodies for the offering of quality healthcare including knowledgeable conclusion making (Wynants, 2009). References American College of Medical Quality. (2010). Medical quality management: Theory and practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Burns, L. R., Bradley, E. H., Weiner, B. J., & Shortell, S. M. (2012). Shortell and Kaluzny's health care management: Organization, design, and behavior. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning. Chaudhry Baslt et. al. (2006). Systematic Review: Impact of Health Information Technology on Quality, Efficiency, and Costs of Medical Care. American College of Physicians. DeNisco, S., & Barker, A. M. (2013). Advanced practice nursing: Evolving roles for the transformation of the profession. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning. European Federation for Medical Informatics., & Mantas, J. (2012). Quality of life through quality of information: Proceedings of MIE2012. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Helmchen, L., Kaestner, R., & Lo, S. A. T. (2008). Beyond health insurance: Public policy to improve health. Bingley, U.K: Emerald JAI. Mukhopadhyay, S. C., & Postolache, O. A. (2013). Pervasive and mobile sensing and computing for healthcare: Technological and social issues. Heidelberg: Springer. Nagle, T., & European Conference on Information Management and Evaluation. (2012). Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Information Management and Evaluation: University College, Cork, Ireland, 13-14 September 2012. Curtis Farm: Academic Pub. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2010). Improving health sector efficiency: The role of information and communication technologies. Paris: OECD. Pescosolido, B. A. (2011). Handbook of the sociology of health, illness, and healing: A blueprint for the 21st cenutry. New York: Springer. Rodrigues, J. (2010). Health information systems: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey PA: Medical Information Science Reference. Rouse, W. B., & Cortese, D. A. (2010). Engineering the system of healthcare delivery. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Topol, E. J. (2012). The creative destruction of medicine: How the digital revolution will create better health care. New York: Basic Books. Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2013). Health care information systems: A practical approach for health care management. Wynants, M. (2009). In sickness and in health: The future of medicine : added value & global access. Brussel: Crosstalks. Figure 1: Types of Public Health Data Figure 2: Levels of Data Collection Figure 3: Health Information System Model Table 1: Common Health Services and Associated Information System Issues Common Health Service Issue Corresponding HIS Issue Challenges in offering important distribution continuously Lack of correct and prompt stock inventory account Insufficient diagnosis and management of communicable ailments Failure to get accounts of identifiable communicable ailments from Government services Insufficient planning and programming of significant tasks and services at item and district level Specific equipment kinds or service levels not frequently delivering routine function plans and supervising accounts Insufficient attention is provided to looking for and serving great threat and insignificant people Patient and clinic documentations fail to determine great-risk patients, households, and societies Insufficient health safety and service offered to poor people Failure of current people information which determines less benefited population clusters Insufficient action by health personnel at facility and district level to supervise and rectify shortages in service reporting and quality Personnel at facility and district level do not keep documentations and present information in a way that facilitate supervising of reporting and quality Great personnel turnover Lack of precise work definitions and career growth opportunities Read More