Significance of Health Informatics - Essay Example

Topic: Health Informatics a) Introduction The health sector is a valuable aspect of every nation. For this matter, there are many terms used in the health industry that refer to the factors required n order to promote progress and advancement. One of the important aspects of the health sector is Health Informatics. This term is used to refer to the connection between information technology and communication in the healthcare sector. The term health informatics refers to the science behind research and investigations and how they are related to communication technology in the healthcare system. All these are aspects that are interrelated in order to bring quality change to the healthcare system. It requires valid techniques and caution in order for success to b realized. The definition of health is refers to the state of an individual having no illness or any injury affecting them. The definition of informatics is refers to the science found in the computer information systems. These two words come together to bring benefit in the healthcare sector. However, health informatics has its own importance, advantages and disadvantages. b) Content i. Why is it important to have informatics health personnel with clinical experience? Health informatics is an important part of the health sector in various ways. For one, through health informatics, important research can be undertaken on serious diseases that trouble many patients. For instance, research on diabetes which affects both adults and children is taken to another level as they try to find ways of making this condition treatable using less harmful treatments. For his reason, having health informatics personnel is important in any clinical institution as it aids in the research department. These personnel will be able to guide the researches using their information technology expertise on how to go deeper in their research on various subjects (Hersh 2009). They will be able to enable the institution identify what might have been missed in the past. This is because they will be using much advanced technology in their research. Health informatics personnel are also important in the clinical sector due to the involvement of several important areas. Some of these areas include reminder systems, electronic health records, data repositories, coding, ontologies and vocabularies as well as data sharing. When such advanced factors are put in the clinical sector of any healthcare environment, then the quality of their health provision is advanced. Communication is made much easier. When the individual in charge needs to confirm a certain concept then they can easily access the materials due t easier technological materials. The physicians will be able to do things on tie due to factors such as reminder systems which will ensure that the patients are given the attention that they require. The presence of health informatics personnel will help in the orientation of the other physicians of how to use the technology that has been put in place so that it can be helpful to both the health provider and the patient (Shortliffe, Cimino 2013). Basically, health informatics is essential in the aspects of storing information within the clinic and ensuring its safety. This information may be about the patients or allocation of duties to the nurses and about medication. It is also important in enabling the presenting of information instance in meetings and on research done. The information can also be shared through technology from one department to another hence the technology can also be used to analyze the data stored as much as it is used for collecting this information. The health informatics personnel will be helpful in that they will coordinate how the technology works and how it is distributed in various centers of the clinic. The personnel look into the functioning of the systems and also understand how to work with the technology appropriately (Hersh 2009). This will enable the clinic benefit from information technology and be advanced in the management and running of their systems. ii. What are the advantages? Some of the advantages of health informatics and health informatics personnel in the clinical department are that heal records are stored electronically. This is beneficial as they are easily accessed. The electronic storage of medical information is also helpful in ensuring the safety of the information stored. The recording of the information is much easier since the process does not involve a lot of individuals or manual work. The hospital will simply have a reliable database system that inputs the names of every person involved from the hospital nurses to the doctors. The information of the patients is also going to be well recoded together with the symptoms they showed and the ailment they had. The doctor then stores information about the prescription that they were given and their progress in treatment goes on (Shortliffe & Cimino 2013). Due to the proper recording of information, the other advantage is hence easy access and reference of data stored electronically. For instance the information on all surgeries performed is keenly stored in terms of all GP surgeries and most DHB’s. Therefore, should any complications occur in the patient, then they can easily go back to the information stored and analyze where they might have gone wrong. This data will be useful in supporting any clinical interventions made. Another advantage of health informatics and personnel that specialize in this is that it provides the opportunity for easier clinical governance. It gives the clinic order and an easy administration in all aspects of the clinic health department. Through information technology, it is much easier to develop relevant strategy and policy. This is due to an easier method of analyzing past trends and how the clinic is performing to date. Should there be any failures made then new policies can be put in place in order to rectify the situation. Electronic systems are also capable of performing statistical analysis on various factors. This can help the hospital analyze he trends of number of patients and the prevalence of certain diseases before planning their budget and any future developments (Shortliffe & Cimino 2013). This also helps in the process of research in order to come up with relevant information. Another advantage is that health informatics has reminders and therefore the patient will be able to keep check of their pressure. There is the enablement of more advanced methods of testing such as cervical screening and using contraceptive methods. This goes to show that health informatics is beneficial in that it is not just the clinic that is benefited but also the community. The circle of this benefit is that one the community feels that they are benefiting from the clinic then they will place their loyalty in the clinic which will in return benefit the clinic once more. Here the health informatics personnel will have helped the clinic maintain the flow of patients to the clinic and their trust as well (Lorenzi & Riley 2013). iii. Disadvantages Like everything else made by man, health informatics has its own disadvantages. The first of these disadvantages is the fact that it is expensive to transition to. New technology may e useful and much advanced hence the high costs of acquiring it. This may not work in favor of the clinic as it means squeezing into their budget and using extra money in order o take on health informatics. The clinic may not even b in the position of taking on this form of take of using extra money to advance in health informatics. As a result, they may be left with the option of having to increase the cost of treatment on the patient in order to shift this burden of finances to them. This may then not be fair because some of the patients may not afford these increased costs of treatment and may end up suffering in the end (Coiera 2015). Another disadvantage is that the transition to health informatics takes time. This is because the individuals who are offering the health services also have to slowly adapt the change from the way they used to do things. With the technology changing and advancing from time to time, it is slow process to try and keep up with each change occurring in the health sector. The acquiring of electronic systems and facilities is a slow process as the health informatics personnel also have to be incorporated into the clinic system. This may also result to added expenses (Lorenzi & Riley 2013). The third disadvantage of health informatics that there may be over dependency on the health informatics and new technology. This is a risky factor as most of the systems are interconnected and therefore when one department goes down the other systems may also go down. The risk in this is that the system may also down in the emergency department and due to the interconnection risks the lives of many patients. The final disadvantage is that the systems that come with health informatics and their personnel may be at risk of network hacker’s breaching them. Should this happen, then information on patients that is confidential may be licked which would undermine the ethical importance of keeping such information private (Coiera 2015). c) Conclusion In conclusion, health informatics is very important especially in the current technological era. Technology has come to make things easier for us and the use of health informatics will ensure that the patients get high quality attention. Communications technology in the medical industry is useful in ensuring the security of the details about the patients and making it easier to access information. Unlike in the past when a lot of time would be take recording information manually and taking long periods before acquiring ones test results, the health informatics is here to ensure that there is immediate addressing of matters concerning the patients and the promotion of a healthy society. The health informatics personnel are important because they are able to work with the advanced technology and store information adequately. This ensures that each patient has the chance to acquire treatment and attention. Despite the disadvantages of health informatics, the benefits outweigh these disadvantages and promote proper handling of each patient. It is also beneficial due to the research advancement it enables with the guidance of the health informatics personnel. References Coiera, E. (2015). Guide to health informatics. CRC Press. Hersh, W. (2009). A stimulus to define informatics and health information technology. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 9(1), 24. Lorenzi, N. M., & Riley, R. T. (2013). Organizational aspects of health informatics: managing technological change. Springer Science & Business Media. Shortliffe, E. H., & Cimino, J. J. (2013). Biomedical informatics: computer applications in health care and biomedicine. Springer Science & Business Media. 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