Healty Care Informatics - Essay Example

CHINS, electronic patient records, clinical guidelines and clinical pathways are just some of the examples from several health care informatics applications. Regardless of the fact that the area of health care informatics is a prime topic of several discussion boards, government and hospital agendas and research, the current literature shows that most health care organizations are allocating a small percentage of their resource in deploying Information Technology to assist health care. One study showed that the health care industry was generally spending only about 2% of its revenues on technology, while other industries generally average around 10% (Clark, 2000).

To echo this fact, another study of American health care providers showed that, while 92% of health care professionals surveyed had informational Web sites, only 20% were participating in extranets or supply chain networks, and only 15% were currently offering enterprise portals (Wilson, 2000). Despite the reluctance evident from these facts and figures, it has been observed that there has still been an increase in the resources allocated towards IT from the mentioned 2% to around 6% (Blodgett, 1997).

On further observation, it is clear that this increase can be attributed to the administrative use of Information Technology rather than use of IT to improve health care. More recently, this trend is changing as many health care organizations are now utilizing information technology to improve the quality of health care received by patients rather than mere MIS use (Anderson, 1997). The TechnologyInternet, Intranet & Extranet: The Internet has attracted considerable attention as a means to improve health and health care delivery.

The Internet is no longer a medium available to the select few. It has become a way of life. Harris poll in August of 2000 shows that 98 million adults have used the Web to find health information. Numerous electronic discussion groups allow patients to share experiences and some health related Internet sites offer email advice on a fee for service basis. Many organizations, including the BMJ, provide free access to health care related information. Regardless of the evident benefits, the Internet is not free of several challenges.

Firstly, Internet to a large extent is uncontrollable. This leads to a possibility of non-credible information to be posted on the websites which could be fatal to several. Secondly, Internet is a public medium which, to a large extend is insecure. This could lead to breach of privacy and other information security related hazards. And most importantly, in countries in which health care is more centrally managed, widespread use of the Internet is likely to aggravate existing conflicts between patients' expectations and provision of health care.

An intranet is a collection of inter-connected networks within an organization, usually based on Internet technologies. The growth in medical intranets can be attributed to its various advantages including: 1) low-cost connectivity; 2) ease of rapid deployment of the technology; 3) use of cross-industry communications standards; 4) user-friendliness; 5) short training times; 6)