Health information system in KIng Faisal Hospital - Essay Example

 Health Information System at the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center Over the past few decades the health care system of Saudi Arabia has transformed magnificently, this is why it holds 26th position out of the total of 190 nations. Health care has been a priority for the Saudi government, and it has been among the key policy matters. A lot of money has been invested in this direction, and the output has been quiet efficient (Walston, Al-Harbi, & Al-Omar, 2007; Altuwaijri, 2008; Almalki, Fitzgerald, & Clark, 2011). In 2007 the unification of the King Faisal Hospital with the King Faisal Research Centre added a new dimension to the healthcare system of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since, the scope of research was quiet limited in the country, and if there was any research it was not applied into the practice, the marriage of the two institutions makes a practically sound combo of precision and innovation. Usually, when healthcare systems are discussed, the main focus is either on the technical side that includes the availability of professionals and procedural options, or the matter is discussed in financial issues like budgeting, funds, loans and price [Han05]. Information is an important element of the healthcare system [Hau02]. As it is the only yard stick that is suitable for determining the delivery of services from the healthcare department [AlS90]. The health information system resources includes material pertaining legislative, regulatory and strategic frameworks, personnel (patient and healthcare staff), statistics, logistics, communication and IT, and collaboration between the components of the health information system. The components of the health information system are discussed as follows: Indicators: They include the information regarding inputs, outputs, implementation, efficiency, and the results achieved from the applied policy. Data Sources: The number of data sources is not easy to determined, there are public sources like consensus, institutional sources, and miscellaneous research surveys. Data Management: Data management is perhaps the most important component of the health information system, a poorly managed data is neither presentable nor considered as authentic.; moreover, it cannot be used for further queries. Management of data includes storage, preservation, addition and edition. Data Transformation: To turn data into evidence it needs to be transformed with elp of the available tools whether statistical or simple computational. Accessibility: A good health information system is one where the information can be shared with people across the globe provided these users have authorized access. Moreover, the use of internet must be applied such that access becomes easy, and one does not have to go through all the records to find single information. The health information system (HIS) is devised to evaluate and study the efficiency of practices that are carried out within a healthcare system. Record keeping lies to the heart of the health information system. Collecting raw data from different sources electronically or manually; followed by categorization; application of various filters; using statistical and other data mining tools; and storing the obtained information that it could be accessed by the users with ease [AlY02]. At King Faisal Hospital, the responsibility of health information system management lies with its Information and Technology Department. The main responsibilities of the health information system at King Faisal Hospital is to manage Information Technology Affairs; to run integrated clinical information system; managing the integrated financial and material management system; devising department specific applications; to maintain and enhance the information technology’s infrastructure services [Alm11]. The health information system deals with two types of users, they are professionals and non-professionals. Among professionals there are further divisions it includes doctors, consultants, healthcare professionals and the non-technical staff. While non-professional users include the patients, patients’ relatives or other concerned personnel. Every user needs information according to his or her purpose of investigation. Further, apart from purpose of extracting information, the other important thing that is needed is the information security. Therefore, the role of IT department at the King Faisal Hospital and Research center is to ensure the compilation of data, making it accessible and organizing it in such a manner that it neither makes it difficult for non-professional users to acquire and understand, nor it exposes the information the unauthorized users, further, it is their duty to provide the technical information regarding medical history, previous medical procedures and other relevant material to the doctors, consultants and patients. The health information system at the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center offers a friendly interface that clearly presents the available options. The official website of the institute is well designed and it is quiet receptive, visitors can easily navigate the area they want to explore. The website offers summary of professionals working in the hospital, it regularly updates the events that take place at the hospital, it offers information regarding the stat of the art procedures and technologies that are used at the hospital. Further, it offers an access to the current research conducted at the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, along with the associated published literature. Moreover, the website has dedicated a special section for its registered users under the tab of E-Services. The section of electronic services or the E-Services provides a user friendly interface; it is divided into four compartments. These compartments are allocated on the basis of user type. These compartments separate the services that are available to the patients from the services available to the professionals, and other staff members. The names of these compartments are as follows Patient Services, Employee Services, Professional Services, and Governmental Organization Services. The patient services action is dedicated to all the personnel who have been in some way treated or diagnosed at the hospital. They can be current, past or future patients. To use these services, the patients or the users need to get themselves registered at the hospital’s official website. The reason behind registration is to ensure information security and privacy of the individuals. Once a person has logged into his or her account, he or she can avail a list of services available on the website in the E-Services compartment allocated for the patients. They include Viewing Appointments, Appointment Services (Cancellation and postponing), Getting Medical Reports, Medication Refills, Contacting Patient Relations, Modifying Personal Information, Social Services Request, and Medical supplies Refill. Noteworthy, whether a patient is registered on the website or not still the information regarding his or her medical history, test results and all other associated information is uploaded to the database by the hospital staff. The purpose of offering these services to the patients is to cut down their labor for managing their medical reports, prescriptions and medical history. Further, all this information is available to the patient all across the globe at a distance of single click. Further, option of seeking appointments also provide the patients with the leverage of fixing dates for their checkup, they can also postpone or cancel their appointments by logging into their account on the website. Moreover, the patients may reach patient relation office from their homes and discuss their concerns; use of social services is also available to the registered users. The subsection of staff and professional services offer the employees of the hospital to access their personal official accounts, where they can report their attendance, leave and other useful information. The health information system used by the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center is setting new standards in the health information system of the country. However, there is still margin for improvement. Moreover, another issue that is prevalent in the health information system of Saudi Arabia is the inability to communicate with the masses because a big chunk of the population is illiterate, they can neither retrieve the information, nor they can understand it. The responsibility lies on the government to empower the people with literacy, so that they could enjoy the access to the information (Gallagher & Maureen Searle, 1985; Berhie, 1991; Bhatti & Tariq, 1993) . References Almalki, M., Fitzgerald, G., & Clark, M. (2011). Health care system in Saudi Arabia: an overview. . 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