Health Information Exchange - Essay Example

Health Information Exchange Definitions of health information exchange Health information exchange is a term that is used to describe the use of technology by organizations in the transmitting and sharing of patients clinical data between physicians. This transmission mostly occurs through faxing, teleprinting or shipping of records through the use of common forms of delivery methods such as postal services (Brailer & Augustino, 2003). Many people are employed by organizations to request, collect and store medical data for purposes of use by the same organization or other parties who request such data. It may also be defined as the mobilization of health information in an electronic form across health care organizations within a specific region, community or even a single hospital. Health information exchange thus provides the ability to move clinical information electronically among different health care information systems at the same time retaining the meaning of the information that is exchanged in the process. (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011) A health care information system in this context refers to a given set of components and procedures that are organized with the objective of generating information which will improve health care management decisions at all the levels of the healthcare organization (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). Benefits of health Information exchange Therefore it has been seen health information exchange is about the automation of access to patients clinical data for use within the organization, region or by other organizations. This brings about many benefits both to the health care organization and the patient. The first benefit is that organizations are able to provide more timely services. This is especially important during emergency cases where a patient needs urgent medical care. The health care organization will simply retrieve information concerning that patient and quickly know where to begin from in addressing the current problem. The traditional methods will mean starting to diagnose the patient in order to get a history about them before actually beginning to treat the patient (Wager, Lee, & Glasser, 2009). The health information exchange has reversed this leading to quick and timely care that has reduced the loss of lives in many instances. The second benefit is that it reduces the costs associated with carrying out medical examinations on both the patient and the health care organization. When a patient is admitted in a hospital for a certain illness, a series of tests, ranging from simple examination of the patient to complex laboratory tests are done. Some of these tests have been done on the patient elsewhere at some time but the health care organization may not have that data necessitating the repeat of those tests. This is costly to the patient as they pay for the same tests every time (Brailer & Augustino, 2003). It may be expensive for the organization as it may need to get extra medical supplies or equipment to help the patient. With the health information exchange a health care organization only needs to request information from the hospital to which that patient was admitted before and thus a lot of money and time is saved in the process (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). Health information exchange facilitates access to clinical data and thereby increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of healthcare. As health care organizations are able to communicate and exchange information, they are able to provide the patient with the best medical care as a result of the history of their illness. They can collaborate in ensuring that the patient gets the treatment that best suits their illness. It is effective as both physicians and patients can retrieve their medical data whenever they are and therefore lessen the burden of carrying medical information every now and then as they may be lost in the process (Wager, Lee, & Glasser, 2009). Health Information Exchange Dilemmas There are dilemmas that have emerged as a result of the automation of the patients’ clinical information which pose a great challenge to people and health care organizations. The benefits of health information exchange are many as seen above but the question still remains whether these systems should continue being implemented. This is because they have potential benefits and potential problems that they bring with them that pose a high risk to patients and even health care organizations. The issue of patients’ medical privacy is the biggest dilemma facing the implementation of health information exchange. Every individual has the right to privacy including the right of having his or her medical information kept secret or private. Therefore releasing this information or by gathering this information and storing it up to be used elsewhere intrudes the person’s privacy. This information may not be properly handled; it may not be properly stored and this may even leak or find its way to people with malicious intentions. By implementing this system it means so many people have access to an individual’s medical records which is an intrusion of privacy (Sittig & Singh, 2011). The benefits may be there as the patient will get quicker and efficient services but the question is how many people can view this information? How many people have access to this information apart from the physicians? The question may not be easy to answer and this brings in the dilemma. The second dilemma has to do with the business nature of healthcare organizations. Most health care organizations work in isolation from others. They treat patients every now and then and release them and keeping their information on stand-alone computers at their offices. These patients then move to other hospitals where they are exposed to other medical systems and tests that may have been previously done. Compounding the problem is the issue of private health providers and the public health providers. The private health providers are in the industry to make money from treating patients while the public health providers are in the industry to provide affordable medical services to the larger population in need. These two categories may not want to exchange information. This is simply for the mere fact that the information exchange may spoil the reputation of other health care providers as they may be looked upon by the patients as incompetent or ineffective in their services. The question is given the benefits that come with this; will the private sector accept the information exchange which in the long run may put their businesses at risk? Will they support the implementation? (Sittig & Singh, 2011) The third dilemma involves the funding of the health information exchange. The health information exchange benefits so many groups and therefore it is posing a big dilemma on who should be funding it. Are the consumers supposed to fund the projects, the health care providers or the government? It estimated that the cost of funding the implementation of health information exchange systems ranges between four hundred to five hundred thousand US dollars and therefore very expensive to implement using the tax payers money. The federal government has tried to ensure that the funding is made through health reforms the question that is still being asked is what is the role of the private health insurers in the funding of the health information systems? This is because it is said that they are the highest beneficiaries of the health information exchange and thus should also contribute in the funding of the entire system (Sittig & Singh, 2011). Challenges faced by Health Information Exchange There are many challenges that face the implementation of the health information exchange systems and this make it difficult for any significant progress to be made simply because they stand in the way of this noble venture. These challenges emanate rather directly from the dilemmas discussed above and thus in order to solve them the above mentioned dilemmas need to be resolved in order that they might pave way for the proper implementation of these systems so that both patients and health care organizations can enjoy the benefits that come from the implementing health information exchange systems. The first major problem that is facing the health information exchange implementation is resistance to change. People by nature are afraid of change because of so many reasons despite the fact that the change may bring good tidings their way. They resist change because they fear the disruption of relationships which have been in existence for a long period of time, they may also fear change because they feel comfortable in maintaining the status quo and lastly they fear it because they are uncertain of what the change will bring (G. A. Cole, 2001). In this context the move proper paper to paper less records may necessitate that some of the medical workers or the support staff go for extra training in order to handle large amount s of data using technology. Some of those employees nay not want to do so because of factors such as age and costs involved in training. Change is especially resisted in this context when working with multiple agencies. Some want to maintain the status quo while others appreciate the change. It takes a lot of effort to educate people so that they can accept the intended change (AHRQ, 2006). The second challenge is the fragmented nature of healthcare organizations. Health care organizations have different approaches to storing patient information. Private individuals may use their office computers to store patient information while established hospitals and other healthcare organizations may use large databases to store patients’ records. The problem that arises is that the different organizations use different software packages to compile this information this information. It is very difficult to pull and consolidate all this information in a single database because of the different variables that have been used in defining the data (Deloitte, 2004). Another problem is that because of the fragmentation, it will be very difficult to look for all private physicians to submit patient’s information to a single database. The records may also vary from those that have had patient records for a long period of time and those that have stored only recent information (Deloitte, 2004). The third problem is privacy and security of the information. As explained earlier individuals have the right to privacy of medical information. There are some details about them that they would not wish or feel comfortable if they are held or known by another person except their personal doctors. Such information may concern issues to do with mental health and other complicated diseases. People will want assurance that if they provided this information it will be safe and that only the authorized people are able to access it (Sittig & Singh, 2011). This cannot be guaranteed because of the latest developments in the world of technology. People are hacking into systems every day and accessing very sensitive information that they use for malicious purposes and individual gain. With respect to this people need to be convinced that the health information provided will be safe and secure. If not so they will not provide all the information needed of them and this could be potentially harmful in the event that such incomplete data is used by a physician in treating a patient (AHRQ, 2006). The last problem or challenge involves the cost of implementing the health information exchange systems. These systems require hardware and software that are expensive to purchase. It may be difficult for a single health care organization to invest in such systems. Secondly the debate about who should fund the healthcare information exchange presents a challenge of the sustainability of the entire project. If this is to succeed mechanisms have to be put in place such as laws to ensure that the program is funded to prevent it from collapsing (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). History of Health information Exchange The history of health information exchange can be traced to the 21st century as a result of the evolution of computers and the internet. The traditional method of storing medical records on paper in large rooms has proved over the past to be a cumbersome process and that wastes a lot of time in trying to retrieve the documents when the patients return for check-up. These records have also been duplicated most of the time as patients keep on moving from one health care provider to another. All these result in inefficiency and time wastage and at times may lead to loss of lives in emergency cases (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). The development of the computer and led to the ability to keep records of many things including patient records in the 20th century. A patient past and present medical history could be stored on the computer in form of documents. Over time they began to be stored in databases especially where large organizations were involved. It was difficult to look for an individual file in various departments of the hospital and thus the hospital had to have a centralized place where all information pertaining to patients could be retrieved. This led to the development of health information systems in hospitals and other health care organizations (Wager, Lee, & Glasser, 2009). With the development of technology and the birth of the internet it has necessitated that healthcare organizations share information so as to provide efficient services to patients. Organizations and individuals want to save costs of doing repetitive tests now and then. Previous information gathered about a patient is used to determine the next cause of action. This led to the development of the health information exchange systems. Though the system is not fully developed because of legal, ethical and financial dilemmas involved, it is a viable option for ensuring efficiency and quick patient centered approach to treatment (Sittig & Singh, 2011). References AHRQ. (2006, January). Evolution of State Health Information exchange. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from Agency for Health Reaserch and Quality: http://www.avalerehealth.net/research/docs/State_based_Health_Information_Exchange_Final_Report.pdf Brailer, D., & Augustino, N. (2003, July). Moving Toward Electronic Health Information Exchange. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from California Healthcare Foundation: http://www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/S/PDF%20SBCCDEInterimReport.pdf Deloitte. (2004, November). States Role in Health information exchanges: a xollaborative approach across multiple stakeholders. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from Deloitte: http://www.providersedge.com/ehdocs/ehr_articles/States_Role_in_Health_Info_Exchanges.pdf G. A. Cole, G. A. (2001). Organisational Behaviour . London, UK: Cengage Learning. Glaser, T. S., & Salzberg, C. (2011). The Strategic Application of Information Technology in Health Care Organizations . New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Sittig, D. F., & Singh, H. (2011). Legal, Ethica and Financial Dilemmas in Electronic Health Record Adoption and use. Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 127(4):1042-1047. Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glasser, J. P. (2009). Health care informations systems: a practical approach for healthcare management. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons . Read More