Information Management Systems in Health Institutions - Case Study Example

Running Head: Information Management System PowerChart System- Information Management System from Cerner program Name Course Instructor Information Management System Thesis Statement Management of patient information is significant in any health institution since it helps in the provision of quality healthcare services to patients. There is increase in technological changes which determines how healthcare activities are supposed to be conducted in a way that leads to efficiency in service provision. The PowerChart System was particularly introduced in the organization due to increased inefficiency in the handling of patient information by use of the manual registers. Maintenance of manual register was costly to the organization in terms of information displacement and inaccurate information. The case study examines the application of the PowerChart System and how it can be used to meet the goals set by the organization currently and in the future. Basic function Evaluation Power Chart is an electronic device inform of a desktop, which links physicians and nurses to the different sources of day to day planning and information about patients’ health conditions that is important for successful healthcare provision. The device has process automated functions which help users view various clinical information and activities across departments or system within the health institutions, carry out orders of nursing or various disciplines of care team procedures, coordinate different care pathways and documentation of clinical information in forms, template and structured-text approaches. The device also allows input of visit and demographic data by use of the patient registration function (Solution Training Guide, 2006). Having originated from a system solutions’ family, Power Chart is a device availed by the health care providers with the intention of managing medical record system electronically. It was also introduced in the health care system in order to automate processes that allow on time coordination of patient care and documentation both in the acute outpatient and inpatient health care settings. It is also important to note that PowerChart is designed to function in particular healthcare venues. PowerChart can automate various tasks which are aimed at providing maximum care to patients (Solution Training Guide, 2006). Among others the functions include: entering orders, input and output of discrete data for patients, viewing records for patients electronically and to identify discrete results, managing tasks and patient assignments for physicians and nurses and documenting the care activities administered to patients. The introduction of the PowerChart in the organization has brought about several management benefits that have tremendously assisted the institution comply with health regulatory requirements in regard to maintaining safety of the patients as it manages costs. In particular, the device has been able to achieve the intended objectives such that the institution can use the PowerChart system to adequately protect privacy of the patients, manage healthcare outcomes effectively and with cost efficiency, accurately validate medications for patients considering their history, allergies and possible contraindications. As mentioned earlier, PowerChart is an automated system that replaced the paperless system which could not manage patients’ information effectively compared to the new system (LarFrance, 2011). Unlike the paper system, the PowerChart allows all the qualified individuals to view the patient record remotely and the moment patients’ results are posted in the system, it is immediately made available to all recommended users. Architectural information and usability According to the Solution Training Guide (2006) the PowerChart is designed in a way that it functions in two major divisions that is, the Patient and Organizer Chart. In the Organizer view option, the user can freely access patient charts by looking at the list of patients, schedule, or the message center. On the other hand, the Patient Chart view option is equivalent to a paper chart. It is designed to have several views or pages that enable users to view or record information about the patient like medications, allergies, orders, problems, immunizations among others. The PowerChart Classic framework is used to access information such as a paper chart by use of a tab metaphor, which is more familiar. This is in contrast to the Enhanced Navigation framework which allows users access the very information through the Table of Contents, abbreviated as TOC. According to Mamoon, the IT technician the PowerChart system used in the organization is a thin client server which is a simple technology that has a single processor since it does not require high processing capacity. The system can not run anything different from the hardware and software required to accurately view the graphical user interface. Mamoon explained that one of the strength of the thin client server is that it has a similar desktop display like that of a PC such that users don’t encounter different experience when using the device for the first time. Also, the system uses the same tools and applications that are run on the server and not own machines. Another advantage of the system is that most of the applications like the Microsoft suite used on a PC can be run on thin client server network. However, Mamoon further noted that the thin client server’s major weakness can be seen in what is termed as high-motion scenarios like motion graphics where features like slide effects and animations are in most cases affected by a desktop resolution; streaming multimedia where thin client prohibits video and audio; latency-sensitive applications where the time taken by an event to reach the user via the network is not well supported and the applications that need a strong graphics card is not supported. The organizer The Organizer is used as an electronic desktop that helps the user access different sources of day to patient and day planning information useful for successful healthcare provision. Examples of Organizer views include Patient List, The Message Center and Home View. When a user selects a patient from either of the views he or she is able to access and use their charts. For the purpose of illustration, when a user clicks the Home button, it displays the Message Center for the user and the Patient List. Upon selecting a patient from the Patient List, the respective chart opens (Solution Training Guide, 2006). Patient Chart View As mentioned earlier, the Patient Chart View allows the user to chart patient information upon which to make informed decisions. To access the Patient Chart View, a user selects a particular patient from any of the Organizer views like the Patient or schedule List (LarFrance, 2011). The advantage with the Patient Chart View is that the user can access several patient charts at the same time and can easily navigate between open charts by simply clicking the name of the patient in the Context toolbar. Cerner’s argument is that the PowerChart System is an important tool which allows staff flexibility in as far as accessing patients’ information is concerned. Physicians can access patient information at their convenient time and place (Burns et al, 2008). In order to confirm the validity of Cerner’s claims I sought for user perception and experiences about the PowerChart System. The number of users interviewed was 10, 5 of which were staff nurses and the remaining 5 staff physicians, and they had various responses to the system. For instance, when asked about the ease of use of the PowerChart System the respondents they gave divided experiences. 6 users including 3 nurses and 3 physicians saw the system to be favorable while the remaining 4 users including 1 physician and 3 nurses thought the system was not favorable to use (Esdall and Adler, 2008). From the interview findings, it is evident that as much as the PowerChart System is important in the administration of healthcare services to patients, the system is not perfectly user friendly as claimed as Cerner. Definitely, when a system is not easily navigable, it is likely to be impaired by this fact. Strategic Alignment In order to realize the organizational objective of connecting clinicians and patients in administration of healthcare services, and enhancing the effectiveness of the health professionals, the organization decided to integrate the PowerChart System in the management of patients’ information. The management had also realized that the physicians and clinicians were reluctant to document patients’ information and it took them long to retrieve such information when making reference (LarFrance, 2011). The PowerChart System is successfully providing a solution to this problem and it is helping the organization achieve its goal of effective service provision. The organization is currently experiencing successful management of patient information and more so sharing of such information among clinicians and physicians. The integrated PowerChart System has actually promoted maximum safety of patients and efficiency of data collection. The system has also helped the organization to consistently manage the capture and documentation of data. Despite the advantages associated with PowerChart system, the greatest challenge the users continue to experience is increase in insecurity and confidentiality of the healthcare records due to computerization of information management. Some users of the system share passwords of even some forget their computers on while still signed in and thus allowing other users not permitted to access the information. Some users are also tempted to perform functions not relevant to their positions and to some extent they view information they don’t need to perform their duties (Solution Training Guide, 2006). This has continued to be a challenge to the organizations and requires immediate solution. The future of PowerChart System In order to realize clinical benefits in future, the PowerChart system has to be improved in terms of security and confidentiality of information. As much as the system allows sharing of information between different users, access to the information should only be restricted physicians and clinicians whom the information is useful by use of a particular code (Solution Training Guide, 2006). However, this should not limit the workflow from supporting simultaneously parallel process of information dissemination. The PowerChart System should also be improved and integrated further to allow the users maintain access logs in order to facilitate compliance review, automatically assign and route deficiencies to the clinicians’ and physicians’ inbox to enhance the review of signature, irrespective of the media used, reduce the requirement for redundant collection of data through abstracting so that data can only be entered once during the time when care is offered to the patient to reduce errors, physicians and clinicians to be able to collect data during the time of providing care to patients and not retrospectively and to capture specifically encountered information by reducing the possibilities of entering redundant data. References Burns J, French J, Noteboom M, & Parker, C. 2008. Clinician Usability Study: Workflow and Clinician Satisfaction Improvement for Physician CPOE and Nursing eMAR  using Cerner Millennium PowerChart and the Motion C5. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.  Esdall R, Adler K. 2008. User Satisfaction With EHRs: Report of a Survey of 422 Family Physicians. American Academy of Family Physicians. LarFrance, JP, (2011). Cerner PowerChart Article Impressions Retrieved from http://i101jwlafran.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/cerner-powerchart-article-impressions/ Solution Training Guide, (2006). CareNet Orders and Documentation. Cerner Corporation Read More