Trends in Hospital Information Systems - Research Paper Example

? Trends in Hospital Information Systems (HIS) The time is now ripe for various health care providers especially hospitals that are dealing with large inflow of patient information which require proper management of medical records for future use to incorporate information technology in management of health records. For a number of years most health care providers have continued to document and store health records especially patient information in paper form (Green & Bowie 279). However, this trend is changing with time as the entire health care industry is continuing to embrace the use of information technology in management of their affairs. It is noteworthy that the idea of computerizing health information is long lived taking into consideration that the first major step to organize and store patient information in an electronic form began in late 1960s. The trend has been growing at an alarming rate due to the need to transfer medical information from one point of service to another within the organization. Physicians’ ability to deliver effectively in the health care has always been curtailed by the overwhelming amount of data that they receive and deliver in the event of discharging their errands. Slee, Slee and Schmidt (36) asserts that it is obvious that medical care gets complex as days pass by besides the fact that information gets to the physicians at uncontrollable rate. It is thus imminent that the physicians and other health care givers have access to latest technologies that would enable them cope with the overwhelming amount of information and therefore offer services based on latest information. This means that there has always been a need for the health care industry to develop computerized system that would enable the health care givers ranging from the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, to laboratory technicians capture, manage, and deliver health care information electronically. It is noteworthy that the dire need for the digital record gave birth to the Hospital Information Systems (HIS). The Hospital Information Systems (HIS) has been an important tool for the health care givers in providing effective and efficient health care services to the patients. Hospital Information Systems (HIS) has been in the health industry for a long period estimated at four decades. It is plausible that majority of healthcare setup ranging from small to large operators have realized significant aspects of the HIS and are in the run to implement it (Lindh, Pooler, Tamparo & Dahl 72). It is noteworthy that the present appetite for HIS is not only an American experience but also a global initiative taking into consideration that there is an ever-increasing global demand for HIS software. This claim can be justified by the escalating number of HIS developers and vendor companies that the world has been experiencing over the past few years. In other words, the demand for Hospital Information Systems (HIS) is growing day by day, which is a positive sign that various healthcare providers appreciate the value of computerized health record across the globe (Gurley). Hospitals are presently one of the major consumers of the Hospital Information Systems (HIS) owing to the large handling of the patients’ information and other related clinical, financial and operational information It is notable that HIS forms an important source of information for EHR utilization. Hospital Information Systems (HIS) has always been used by health systems to share and manage medical data. Hospital Information Systems (HIS) module requirement include but not limited to writing drug prescription, faster and easy access to Patient records, scheduling, distribution of medical aid, documentation of patient encounters, request, and receipt of diagnostic and lab reports, clinical decision support system, managing documentation and billing (Garets & Davis). Other Hospital Information Systems (HIS) modules include but not limited to authentication of providers and patients, discharge summaries, reporting of laboratory results, , and diagnostic imaging report. The clinicians are always expected to document their encounter with the patients as this is considered necessary for availing crucial information that would assist in decision making with respect to the issue at hand. The task of documenting medical data has always been distressful to the physicians, as they perceive it to be a distress on their primary task that involves taking care of the patients (Carter 59). Physicians are always against documentation as it involves duplication of effort taking into consideration that every X-ray order, medical prescription, and lab test order must be re-written on the chart in order to maintain a good health record. According to Jha, A et al, (1639) the large amount of information at the disposal of the physicians tends to overwhelm them to an extent that it prevents them from incorporating new technologies in their daily errands. The idea of shifting away from the paper-based recording of patient information to digitalized form has been in existence since the late 1960’s. Larry Weed and his collaborators were the first persons to organize a digitalized medical record system when they developed the University of Vermont’s Problem Oriented Medical Record (POMR) System. Since the development of the POMR system into medical practice physicians task of documentation has been narrowed down to recording of diagnosis and treated provided only. Larry Weed invention was aimed at promoting independent verification of diagnosis by third parties. According to Grayson (2011), the Latter Day Saints Hospital in Utah during the period of 1967 utilized an early EMR system known as Health Evaluation through Logical Processing (HELP). The piloting of two important systems namely the Computer-Stored Ambulatory Records (COSTAR) and the Multiphasic Health Testing System (MHTS) took place in 1968. However, the first constructive medical record system as developed by the Regenstreif Institute in 1972. Despite the fact that this innovation was overwhelmingly appreciated as it was considered a major break thorough in the medial practice; healthcare practitioners were very slow to adopt this precious technology in their practice. Williams and Samarth (118), state that the trend to adopt the computer based information systems has been growing positively for the past few decades however at a slow pace. For instance 1991 saw the period when the government started interfering with the health care practice when the Institute of Medicine recommended a deadline (1999) for every provider to adopt computerized medical records in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in health care delivery (Grayson, 89). However, the recommended deadline had to be deserted owing to a number of concerns concerning patient-privacy ground with respect to an automated environment. Additionally most critics claimed inability to integrating images, numbers, and text by the programs as another reason for abolishing the set deadline. It is noteworthy, that the present world has witnessed improvement in computer technologies and as such, various challenges faced with early HIS systems such as equipment costs and integrating data has been tackled effectively. As at 2009, the federal government pledged funding for the HIS. In fact President Obama went ahead in 2009 to prioritize national HIS system as one of his major objectives in his administration and as such he promised that by 2014 all medical records will be universal digitalized. Growth and Future of Hospital Information Systems (HIS) Even though it may be extremely difficult to forecast the future of Hospital Information Systems (HIS) its growth can still be traced taking into consideration that HIS depends on technological breakthrough and inventions within and outside the Health care practice. However, it is obvious that the future looks splendor for computerized health information systems especially Electronic Health Record (EHR) and the Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The paper-based health records have been utilized by the providers for several decades however their gradual extinction as providers continue to embrace computer based recording system is slow but consistent (Williams & Samarth, 312). It is noteworthy that computerized information system is yet to achieve its breakthrough into the health care industry compared to other sectors such as transport, retail, manufacturing, and finance industries. Additionally, its penetration into the global market is varied from country to country of localities with the developed countries recording high penetration unlike the developing or emerging economies (Brogan 207). The same case of penetration applies to the level of practice as most large institutions such as hospitals have recorded high number of deployment unlike small practices such as local public health department, nursing facility or school based health center. It is noteworthy that Electronic Health Record is at the helm of any automated health information system in the health care setup (Busch, 29). As such, lack of HIS in a health care setup may derail the effectiveness of new advanced technologies such as Decision Support System in the organization as they cannot be integrated effectively into the usual clinical workflow. It is plausible that the daunting challenge of implement a paperless, multi-provider, multi-discipline, and interoperable automated medical record which has been the main objective of various scholars, researchers administrators within and outside healthcare practice is about to become a reality as various providers are continuing to embrace the HIS technology (Walker, Bieber, & Richards, 209). Over the recent past, various governments across the globe have been doing a credible job in promoting the growth of Hospital Information Systems (HIS) (MITRE Corporation). The United States Government in collaboration with a number of health maintenance organizations has been encouraging health care operators to implement computerized information systems that involve automation of medical records-EMR and EHR in order to enhance efficient service delivery. The same case is taking place in majority of the European countries as the governments are increasingly encouraging health care providers to use Hospital Information Systems (HIS) in the practice. Derailed widespread growth of Computerized Information System with respect to automation of healthcare information is attributable to notable barriers ranging from financial constraints, slow and tedious data input, resource issues, ethical and security issues, Incompatibility between systems and skepticism. According to Williams and Samarth, (81) Financial constraints characterized by high implementation costs, which include initial cost of software, and hardware, cost of maintenance, replacement and upgrades have been the core derailing factors in the growth of computerized medical records. Technical matters characterized by functionality complications, quality uncertainty, and lack of integration with other programs have also been pointed out as the barriers to widespread implementation of HIS (Amatayakul & Lazarus 10). Human resource issues forms another crucial barrier to widespread growth of HIS across the globe as most health care providers fear challenges of training and retraining, possibility of unmanageable impact on work practice not to forget resistance by potential users (Jha, A et al, 1629). The issue of security and ethics has also been contributing factors to slow growth of HIS owing to aspects of privacy, confidentiality and misuse of medical records without patients knowledge. Works cited Amatayakul, Margreta & Lazarus, Steven. Electronic health records: transforming your medical practice. Washington: Medical Group Management Assn 2005. Brogan, Teri. Health Information Technology Basics: A Concise Guide to Principles and Practice. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009. Busch , R. Electronic Health Records: An Audit and Internal Control Guide. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Carter , Jerome. Electronic health records: a guide for clinicians and administrators. Chicago: ACP Press, 2008. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Overview. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: https://www.cms.gov/ehealthrecords/ Garets, Dyne & Davis, Mich. Electronic Medical Records vs. Electronic Health Records: Yes, There Is a Difference. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: http://www.himssanalytics.org/docs/wp_emr_ehr.pdf Grayson, L. The History of Electronic Medical Records. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: http://www.ehow.com/about_5042653_history-electronic-medical-records.html Green, M & Bowie, M. Essentials of health information management: principles and practices, Vol 1. California: Cengage Learning, 2005. Jha, AK et al. . Use of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals. The New England Journal of Medicine. 360 (2009):1628-1638. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0900592 Lindh, Wilburta., Pooler, Marilyn., Tamparo, Carol & Dahl, Barbara. Delmar's Administrative Medical Assisting. California: Cengage, 2009. MITRE Corporation. Electronic Health Records Overview. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/publications/informatics/ehr.pdf Slee, D., Slee, V & Schmidt, H. Slee's health care terms. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2008. Gurley, Lori. The Advantages & Disadvantages of an HER. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6134055_advantages-disadvantages-ehr.html Walker, James. Bieber, Eric & Richards, Frank. Implementing an Electronic Health Record System. New York: Springer 2006. Williams, Trenor & Samarth, Anita.  Electronic Health Records For Dummies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Read More