Information Technology in Health Care - Assignment Example

Information Technology in Health Care “Student’s Name” “Institution Affiliation” “Instructor’s Name” “Date” IT in Healthcare Does business need IT? Healthcare needs Information and Technology (IT) for efficient and effective delivery of health services (Jones et al 2014). The integration of IT into primary care involves utilizing a variety of electronic methods used to manage health information including patient and clinical information. Middleton et al (2013) points out that IT in healthcare promotes automated and interoperable systems that lower cost of service delivery, reduce errors, improve efficiency, and increase the quality of service. Through IT, a healthcare organization is capable of implementing electronic health record (EHR) that facilitates sharing of patient information among multiple agencies and facilities. From this perspective, IT makes it possible for health care providers to manage patient care using secure channels that in turn promote robust decision. IT also makes health information available electronically (King et al 2014). As such, IT facilitates accurate and complete information on patient’s information. This way, healthcare providers can provide the best possible care (Jones et al 2014). With the help of IT, healthcare providers have the ability to coordinate care given in the best possible way. This is particularly important when patients have serious medical conditions. Moreover, through IT, health practitioners share diagnostic health information, consequently reducing medical errors as well as providing safer care. Because of these functionalities and advantages to healthcare, it becomes important to deploy IT in healthcare. Why IT is important for business survival Survival requires long-term profitability and growth. IT plays a strategic role in facilitating long-term profitability and growth. The deployment of IT in healthcare reduces cost of healthcare delivery, especially because of information sharing that makes it less expensive to obtain expertise diagnosis and reducing medical errors. In addition, IT helps healthcare providers to improve healthcare processes, achieve cost efficiencies, as well as maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace (Miriovsky, Shulman, and Abernethy 2012). IT allows healthcare providers to keep up with supply and demand of health services, as health consumers grow more anxious of having their service instantly (Cresswell, Bates and Sheikh 2013). For instance, patients can use diagnostic systems from the convenience of their homes without necessarily going to the clinic and obtain accurate diagnostic information. Such convenience attracts customers to healthcare providers that deploy such systems, consequently securing the business customers. In order to remain competitive, businesses ought to attract and retain customers. One sure method of attracting and retaining customers is tailoring services to the needs of customers and providing value-added services. Within the healthcare setting, IT serves to provide efficient and quality health care to patients (Davenport 2013). IT also guarantees security of health information, a concern for many patients within the healthcare industry. Furthermore, healthcare providers can send and receive digital medical information that allows accurate diagnosis. This means customers get quality health care, a sure means to attract and retain customers. In terms of business sustainability, accurate diagnosis reduces cost of medical errors. Health practitioners can also spend more time on patients because IT eradicates time spent on paperwork. Staying competitive in the business require differentiation and provision of superior services. Through IT, healthcare providers can use computerized axial tomography and other technologically advanced services to create detailed images of patients that help in diagnosis. Such services distinguish the healthcare provider with other providers. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), IT is critical in healthcare delivery for not only competitive advantages, but also, ensuring quality and timely care. What is required to apply IT into business? Health care information technology includes the deployment of infrastructure and health information systems such as HER, CPOE, RFIDs, and ADMs among others. In order to apply IT in healthcare, development of infrastructure is central to healthcare-specific technologies. In addition, there is a need for user-interface and efficiency-enhancement technologies that make it possible to use the healthcare-specific technologies (Cresswell, Bates, and Sheikh 2013). It is imperative that infrastructure developed for healthcare use be defined by user requirement instead of technologies available. Thus, the healthcare providers should consider how hardware and other infrastructure satisfy customer needs. Successful implementation of IT relies on the infrastructure in place that supports health information technology. Infrastructure entails factors such as business process modeling, domain analysis, domain identification, and total quality management. Infrastructure for IT in healthcare industry comprises of the software and hardware components that facilitate use of health technologies (Davenport 2013). For instance, healthcare providers may require computers, servers, storage devices, internet connection, routers, switches, health information software, and other infrastructure that make it possible to use IT (Tran et al 2012). Other requirements for integration of IT into healthcare industry includes hosted applications and customized health applications. Before implementing IT in a healthcare setting, healthcare providers need to come up with a framework that guides decision about collecting and making decisions on needed information from the affected parties. Decision Support Systems (DSS) are also a requirement for application of IT into healthcare. Applying IT in healthcare requires individual providers to adopt it. Providers require up-front financial investment. The cost of investment can be significant especially cost for purchasing infrastructure and that of maintenance. The average cost of EHR for instance ranges between $16,000 and $36,000 per physician. Furthermore, implementing and supporting IT application requires skills (Davenport 2013). Thus, the application of IT in healthcare demands training of existing staff so they became competent in use of the anticipated technology. Furthermore, office and physician workflow succumbs to significant changes that see reorganization of work design. This makes it important to prepare healthcare providers in regards to anticipated changes so they can adjust accordingly. How does business use IT? Healthcare providers use Information Technology in various ways. IT facilitates entry of patient information into EHR systems. Patient medical record may contain different data elements such as images, text, video, and numbers. This facilitates storage of patient health information in electronic form such as history of disease (Cresswell, Bates, and Sheikh 2013). EHR allows doctors and other care providers to track patient health information easily as well as share information with specialists. Integrated EHRs allow patients to log in to health web portal and view health results and treatment plan adopted by healthcare provider. EHR serve as automated order-entry and patient tracking systems that facilitates quick retrieval of patient information. Healthcare practitioners also use IT in medication ordering and fulfillment. Through Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE), health practitioners are able to make drug orders and keep track of medical supplies. This reduces paperwork and tracking processes present in manual systems. CPOE also facilitates laboratory orders, transfers, referrals, discharges, radiology studies, and medical procedures (Frisse et al 2012). This reduces the movement of healthcare providers; therefore, increasing time health practitioners spend with the patient. Healthcare providers use Electronic Material Management (EMM) for tracking and managing inventory of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and other materials needed in a healthcare facility. This technology serves in similar manner to enterprise resource planning systems. Healthcare practitioners also use IT for barcoding. This involves using an optical scanner to capture information encoded on health products. Barcode scanning is popular for matching drugs to patients using code on patients’ arm bracelet and on medication. Furthermore, health practitioners use IT in tracking patients throughout the healthcare facility through radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology (Jones et al 2014). RFID technology uses wireless technology to link the patient to the hospital, lab, and medication. Other uses of IT in healthcare provision include clinical decisions whereby healthcare providers use clinical support systems to retrieve real-time diagnostic and treatment recommendations. What benefits and advantages does IT bring to business? IT offers many advantages to healthcare business. As discussed above, IT automates healthcare delivery processes, making them more efficient, cheaper, and prompt (Miriovsky, Shulman, and Abernethy 2012). IT allows healthcare providers to retrieve patient information rapidly on computers and other healthcare devices compared to retrieving manual files. This quickens time required to attend to patient. Furthermore, the storage of patient information in electronic form allows sharing of the information with experts, thereby facilitating better decision making and reducing medical errors. IT facilitates great reforms in the healthcare industry. According to Jones et al (2014), health practitioners can send and receive medical information on IT platform. This tends to lower the cost of information exchange and the time taken to communicate between and among health practitioners. Another benefit rendered by IT is automation of tracking systems. It is possible to track patient records, medical supplies, and treatment procedures from the same computer system without having to engage different protocols and procedures (Miriovsky, Shulman, and Abernethy 2012). This eliminates the need for paperwork. It also simplifies work for healthcare providers. Studies show that the most significant aspect of IT in healthcare is the ability to reduce medication errors, including eliminating drug dosage errors. IT facilitates prescription of drugs with improved accuracy (Miriovsky, Shulman, and Abernethy 2012). Security improvements in IT have made it possible to send medical records securely. Because of the enhanced security, medical practitioners can send prescriptions to local pharmacies. IT provides boost to the field of health informatics, a combination of information technology, healthcare, and business (Frisse et al 2012). Such information enable the delivery of high quality care and error-free. Professions situated in remote areas are able to access important health information. Furthermore, Information Technology makes it easier to track warnings of unforeseen drug interactions, thereby reducing adverse drug conditions (King et al 2014). More importantly, healthcare providers can use IT to obtain decision support. How can business maintain and monitor IT? Maintaining and monitoring IT in healthcare system requires a robust approach. This approach involves hiring or outsourcing IT experts responsible for maintaining IT infrastructure and systems. Alternatively, the healthcare provider may opt to train existing staff on ways of maintaining and monitoring IT (Kellermann & Jones 2013). In order to ensure proper maintenance, healthcare providers need to train medical staff on appropriate and efficient use of the IT systems. This involves providing a comprehensive training session that equips staff with knowledge on the use of the IT systems (Tran et al 2012). Regular maintenance of the IT systems and infrastructure is also important. Healthcare provider may institute a department of IT that deal with the maintenance of IT infrastructure and systems within the healthcare facility. Monitoring of IT infrastructure and system requires use of cameras or physical observer that keeps an eye on the system. Health provider may achieve monitoring of IT simply by deploying CCTVs within the workplace environment and engaging a monitoring system that performs monitoring duties (Tran et al 2012). Alternatively, health care providers can deploy script-based monitoring tools that facilitate collection of valuable information (Street, Gold, and Manning 2013). Monitoring can also be possible through use of open source monitoring infrastructure that allows remote monitoring of healthcare applications. For instance, OpManager offers comprehensive monitoring solution. Furthermore, the monitoring systems facilitates IT workflow automation that relieves healthcare providers trouble of performing troubleshooting activities in the event of system faults (Tran et al 2012). Reference List CRESSWELL, K.M., BATES, D.W. AND SHEIKH, A., 2013. Ten key considerations for the successful implementation and adoption of large-scale health information technology. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(e1), pp.e9-e13. DAVENPORT, T.H., 2013. Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press. FRISSE, M.E., JOHNSON, K.B., NIAN, H., DAVISON, C.L., GADD, C.S., UNERTL, K.M., TURRI, P.A. AND CHEN, Q., 2012. The financial impact of health information exchange on emergency department care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 19(3), pp.328-333. JONES, S.S., RUDIN, R.S., PERRY, T. AND SHEKELLE, P.G., 2014. Health information technology: an updated systematic review with a focus on meaningful use. Annals of internal medicine, 160(1), pp.48-54 KELLERMANN, A.L. AND JONES, S.S., 2013. What it will take to achieve the as-yet-unfulfilled promises of health information technology. Health Affairs,32(1), pp.63-68. KING, J., PATEL, V., JAMOOM, E.W. AND FURUKAWA, M.F., 2014. Clinical benefits of electronic health record use: national findings. Health services research, 49(1pt2), pp.392-404. MIDDLETON, B., BLOOMROSEN, M., DENTE, M.A., HASHMAT, B., KOPPEL, R., OVERHAGE, J.M., PAYNE, T.H., ROSENBLOOM, S.T., WEAVER, C. AND ZHANG, J., 2013. Enhancing patient safety and quality of care by improving the usability of electronic health record systems: recommendations from AMIA. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(e1), pp.e2-e8. MIRIOVSKY, B.J., SHULMAN, L.N. AND ABERNETHY, A.P., 2012. Importance of health information technology, electronic health records, and continuously aggregating data to comparative effectiveness research and learning health care. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 30(34), pp.4243-4248. STREET, R.L., GOLD, W.R. AND MANNING, T.R., 2013. Health promotion and interactive technology: Theoretical applications and future directions. Routledge. TRAN, S.T., LE NGOC THANH, N.Q.B. AND PHUONG, D.B., 2013. Introduction to information technology. In Proc. of the 9th inter. CDIO conf.(CDIO). Read More