Essay Sample on Health Care Sector Transformed by IT Innovations: Examples & Benefits

Introduction

Information technology has resulted in transformations in various sectors of the economy. Such transformations have seen increased effectiveness and efficiency in achieving the goals set by such organizations. An example of a sector that witnesses innovation is the health care sector. In every country, the health care sector represents one of the crucial aspects of the economy since the citizen's lives are involved. Among the innovations adopted by the health care sector include the introduction of electronic health records in many hospitals and health organizations. Many organizations in the health care sector have electronic health records in their systems as they lead to convenience and improved efficiency in any organization (Gallagher, 2018). Keeping track of data enables organizations to achieve their objectives effectively.

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Drawbacks of Electronic Health Records

Electronic health records in different organizations have, to some extent, contributed to improved quality. Improved quality from the electronic health records is due to the decisions made from such data (Zhou et al., 2009). As much as there is an improved display of electronic records, there are still some complaints from the patient's side. The complaints stem from a lack of focus for the patients and spending too much of their time on the screens. Depending on the condition that the patient is suffering from, increased care is required to ensure that the patient receives quality in any organization. Most nurses or doctors spend most of their time analyzing information that is extracted from the electronic health records forgetting that there are patients that require additional care. Some of the lack of care is because of inaccurate information that sometimes the system provides. The inaccurate information provided may lead to misdiagnosis on the treatment required.

Type and Importance of Human Resource Records in Organizations

Different organizations track data for various uses. One type of data is shared in nearly all organizations to include information relating to the human resource. Human resource is considered to be the most crucial resource in any organization. Every organization has a human resource department which deals with matters concerning the employees. Some of the aspects that organizations track regarding human resource data include their productivity and daily records. Productivity for the employees can be measured by how they achieve personal goals about the overall organizational objectives. Each employee is required to have a certain level of performance in the organization. Evaluation methods such a balanced scorecard assess how employees achieve the targets set to them by the organization. As far as daily records are concerned, elements such as lateness and absenteeism come to mind. The two aspects are crucial as they relate to employee's productivity.

Keeping track of human resource information such as productivity and the daily record has importance to the organization. The importance of keeping such information is key to making various decisions in organizations. The types of decisions that are made based on human resource data include promotions, demotions, terminations, and pay raises (Heathfield, 2019). Most organizations use human resource data to make changes to their human resource that affect their operations. Another importance of human resource data is performance evaluation. Performance evaluation will assess how employees contribute to the overall success of the organization. Once the evaluation is done, necessary steps can be taken either to maintain the same level of productivity or to change.

Ethical Standards in Human Resource Records

Just like any other aspect of the organization, records also have some ethical considerations that individuals should put in mind. The ethical considerations ensure that the organization does not violate any moral standards relating to keeping track of employee records. Among the key ethical issues in tracking employee, records are confidentiality. Confidentiality relates more to the privacy of some information concerning the employees (King & Richards, 2014). As much as the organization tracks employee data, there is some information that needs to be kept in secret and known only by the organization and the individual employee. Once such information is released, trust between employees and the organization can be compromised.

Besides confidentiality, there is also transparency. Transparency entails the way organizations relay certain information. Relaying information should be done in a way that is honest and relates to the real performance of each employee. Every employee's performance should be relayed, honestly, and openly. If an employee's performance is displayed in a way that does not reflect their true output, then search employees will be demoralized and not perform as expected.

Conclusion

In summary, every organization has data that they usually track. Such data vary according to the type of organization. In most health care institutions and organizations, innovations have led to the introduction of electronic health records. Electronic health records entail databases the contain different information relating to the patients in such institutions. As much as electronic health records provide some level of efficiency, there are still some complaints in that much focus is put on the electronic records as opposed to the patients' care. In addition to the electronic health records, there are still some data that organizations track. Data relating to human resources is some of the information that organizations track. It is crucial to track such information for performance evaluation and decision making. However, ethics in tracking the information should be considered.

References

Gallagher. Advantages and disadvantages of electronic health records. Gallagher. Retrieved from https://www.gallaghermalpractice.com/blog/post/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-health-records

Heathfield, S. (2019). The importance of documentation in human resources. The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/documentation-1918096

King, J.H. & Richards, N.M. (2014). What's up with big data ethics? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/oreillymedia/2014/03/28/whats-up-with-big-data-ethics/#18b8e66f3591

Zhou, L., Soran, C. S., Jenter, C. A., Volk, L. A., Orav, E. J., Bates, D. W., & Simon, S. R. (2009). The relationship between electronic health record use and quality of care over time. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16(4), 457-464. https://doi.org/10.1197/jamia.M3128