Information System for Healthcare Management - Research Paper Example

Information system for healthcare management Information Governance The world’s problem is the problem of now. Thus, every individual, institution or organization concentrates on solving today’s problems, while mostly forgetting about the future. Therefore, many failures that are experienced today have their roots in the past. They are issues that could have been addressed when they were minor, hence we need to avoid seeing them mature to full blown problems that are difficult to solve currently. So is the problem of information governance, where the management/information technology project failures that are experienced today could have been foreseen and resolved in the past (Logan, 2010). There are various causes of information management/information technology project failures, which include: Lack of prediction This is one of the major causes of information management failures. The failure to see a problem coming and thus address the causative agents when they are at their infant stage causes a full blown information management failure (Wixom, 2001). The current problem of information management failure is attributable to the unprecedented rapid growth and changes in technology, which could not be predicted 25 years ago. The changes have affected both the way we live and the way we work. Therefore, more information is processed and stored currently than was anticipated some years ago (Logan, 2010). This has caused an information management failure, since the information storage systems that were installed years back are not sufficient to cater for the current information needs. In the19th and 20th century health systems, there were some routine methods of diagnosing and treating illnesses. However, the technological advancement has changed the systems of diagnosis and the treatment procedures, increasing the information and the details that require storage and reference (Logan, 2010). This has caused congestion in the health sector information management systems, resulting into information projects management failures. Thus, the actual cause of failures in information management is too much information, a mixture of new and old, accurate and inaccurate that has clogged the working systems (Wixom, 2001). While the failures in information management in the past were attributed to lack of sufficient information, this has now changed, to make too much information the major cause of the 21st century information management failures. The essence of achieving efficient information management is no longer to keep gathering more information, but to gather quality information and apply quality technology for analyzing such information (Logan, 2010). Narrow focus A narrow focus and the failure to perceive it all has caused the current failures in information management. The information gathered and accumulated each day does not seem much. However, after a whole year of accumulating and storing data into the systems, the data amounts to bulk information that is difficult to analyze (Logan, 2010). Therefore, a narrow focus makes individuals fail to sort out the data and create specialized files for each category of data. This result to a high volume of data being accumulated at random in the storage systems, making it difficult to sort out such data in the time of need. This serves to reduce information usability, making the data gathered and stored redundant (Wixom, 2001). Thus, narrow focus ends up costing an organization a lot of money, when the need to retrieve, analyze and utilize the already stored information arises. Action procrastination Another great cause for information management failures is the delay to act once a problem has been detected. Many individuals do not want to take time to evaluate the information that has been received and saved in the systems for a period of time. Instead, there is a tendency to wait until a large volume of information has been accumulated (Logan, 2010). This lack of management discipline leads to an accumulation of redundant and postdated information, which could have been disposed and replaced with up-to-date information, which is relevant and useful. Therefore, sufficient discipline in the management of information is necessary to eliminate the information management failures (Wixom, 2001). The individuals working in the department should be involved in sorting out and evaluating which information is of value and which is obsolete and redundant. This way, they remove the irrelevant information and update the systems with the new and relevant information, which make the system up-to-date (Logan, 2010). Thus, the cultivation of good organizational discipline is necessary to enhance information management. Best practices to be adopted by any organization to avoid such failures in the future Selecting quality information and quality information management technology The problem of information management failure has been accelerated by the accumulation of irrelevant and redundant information, on top of using low quality technology and poor systems of managing information (Logan, 2010). Therefore, to overcome this problem, it is important to store only relevant and quality information in the systems, while utilizing quality technology that enhances retrieval, analysis and utilization of the information. Continuous review and updating information The problem of procrastination, which delays the review of information, should be curbed through adopting continuous reviews of information systems and updating the information stored. This entails the periodical assessment of the value of any information stored in the systems and replacement of the redundant with the updated and relevant information (Wixom, 2001). This way, the congestion of the information systems with irrelevant information is avoided, while the unnecessary information is disposed in good time. This makes the process of accessing, evaluating and retrieving information easy (Logan, 2010). Accurate estimation and prediction The management of information technology projects is not efficient without accuracy projection of the likely changes, requirements and outcomes. Therefore, to avoid information management failures, it is relevant to make an accurate estimate of the project requirements and changes (Wixom, 2001). This is because inaccurate estimates and lack of prediction eventually lead to project changes that cannot be effectively addressed. Additionally, poor prediction prevents timely interventions that could safe the project future problems. Thus, it is vital to avoid concentrating on the current project issues only, and broaden the focus to include the likely future problems that may arise and how they can be resolved in good time, before they explode into bigger challenges (Logan, 2010). Effective way that project metrics and portfolio management can facilitate IM/IT governance The most effective way of achieving IM/IT governance through project metrics and portfolio management is through identifying the existing performance gaps, establishing reasonable performance targets and adopting an achievable improvement commitment (Kerzner, 2010). Through portfolio management, various aspects of a project are brought into a common pool, making it possible to include the project budget, technology requirement, concepts of operation and the projects target mission in its execution plan (Kerzner, 2010). This makes it possible for the participants in the project execution to sustain a focused strategy throughout the implementation process, while predicting and addressing the likely changes that may occur to a project in the future. This makes it possible to achieve information management/information technology governance without any failure (Kerzner, 2010). Various types of government intervention into health care business There are various ways through which government can intervene in the matters of health care business. Such interventions include policy interventions, where the government is involved in issuing policies and enacting laws that guide the health care business operations (Savage, 2007). Another intervention is the financial intervention, where the government intervenes by assisting the health care sector financially to enhance quality health services offer to the citizens. Additionally, the government intervenes in the health care business through offering technical assistance as well as advisory services (Savage, 2007). While government intervention is beneficial to the health care business one hand, it is detrimental on the other. Government intervention that entails financial, technical and advisory support is beneficial to the health care business, since it enhances the provision of quality services by the health care sector to the people (Savage, 2007). Additionally, policy and legislation interventions are beneficial towards achieving an organized and streamlined health care sector, which serves people as the priority. Government interventions in terms of policies and legislations also help to ensure quality of healthcare provided to the people. For example, the enactment requiring that all medicines should provide information regarding the percentage of each component they contain is essential to promote health awareness (Savage, 2007). This is because patients get aware of the components of the drugs they consume, helping them to avoid any component that is adverse to their body system. Most important is the fact that policy and legal interventions made by the government in the health care business helps to ensure the affordability of the health services to all. Additionally, it helps to ensure that individuals who cannot afford healthcare obtain medical attention and are treated (Savage, 2007). For example, Medicare policy of reimbursement ensures that all patients who seek medical attention are treated, and the cost of such health service is catered for through the common pool funds (Savage, 2007). However, some policy and legislative intervention are detrimental to the health care business, since they limit the functionality and the ability of the health care sector to deliver (Savage, 2007). For example, the Medicare policy of the US has been criticized for not being an effective health insurance plan covering all, but as the taxation of one group of people to pay for the medical expenditure of others (Savage, 2007). Such a policy limits the operations of the health care business. Some government interventions is terms of policy, though meant to promote health care, end up making it costly and difficult to offer to the people. For example, the mandated health does not help in any o ensure health services delivery to the people. Instead, mandated health makes the insurers to offer health insurance services at a higher price (Savage, 2007). Additionally, the some health policies issued by the government for example the policy requiring insurers to accept all health insurance application regardless of the health status of the applicants serve to harm the risk assessment and threshold of the risks associated (Savage, 2007). Worse still is the fact that some government intervention has made healthcare a den for inefficiency and fraud. For example, the reimbursement policy introduced by the Medicare system increased the rate of hospital spending by more than two times between 1960 and 1970 (Savage, 2007). This policy created a loophole through which the medical care offering institution could inflate their charges, and request for a higher reimbursement than they actually spend. This is detrimental to the health care system, since it makes it unaffordable, while increasing the tax burden for the people, since they have to meet inflated health costs through paying taxes (Savage, 2007). References Kerzner, H. (2010). Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Logan, D. (2010). Four Causes of Information Governance Failures. Gartner Research. Savage, J. (2007). Government Price-Fixing in Medicine: the Demanding Entitled Patient. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, 12(3), 91-92. Wixom, H. (2001). An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehouse Success. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 25(1), 17-41. Read More