Paper Example on Health Information Systems (HIS)

Introduction

Health information systems capture, manage, store, or transmit data and information related to the health of the population, and activities related to the health sector organization. They influence policy, decision making, health outcomes, program action, and research. It incorporates hospital surveillance systems, laboratory information systems, human resources information, disease surveillance, and regular information systems. At policy creation levels, Health Information Systems is essential in determining the resource allocation into various health departments; providing insight on the effectiveness of the services delivered by the health organization, and how it could be improved. For a patient-related health system, there is the need for proper health statics such as the gender, age, sex and socio-economic status; provided by the system, for appropriate decision making. The functioning of a good health system depends significantly upon the health information systems. It is the backbone that provides evidence for policies and decisions regarding programs aimed at initiating better health outcomes from the population.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Advantages of Health Information Systems

Usability

A well-established HIS creates an avenue for the readily available patient and hospital data. Introduction of automation into the system, consequently, lead to process efficiency affiliated in capturing, storing, and retrieving data. It, therefore, makes the process easy to use (Waterson, 2014). Health Information Systems deals with the human problems such as fatigue, lack of focus, miscommunication, and increases efficiency; as a result, it also does away with the disadvantages of handling paperwork and clerical work. The system is software-based, and therefore it is programmed to reduce errors when handling and processing of data; consequently, it introduces accuracy in the health-related information.

Interoperability

The most significant advantage in the use of computer-based systems within any setting is the ability of these systems to exchange and make use of the same information within different platforms through computer-based networks. Health information systems, therefore, makes it possible for various healthcare department in an organization to access the health information. Interoperability, thence, reduces the time used for inputting and interpreting data sets (Avgerou & Walsham, 2017). Therefore, the employee workload is reduced, leading to an efficient output in the health organization. Vast amounts of patient information shared within one platform provide access to research. Public health data of a whole region also depends on the interoperability of health information systems. Functions of public health such as tracking of contagious diseases, the creation of opportunities for preventive health care, and reduction of healthcare costs are made accessible.

Scalability

The technological platform in which Health information Systems is built upon has undergone a series of evolution over the past years. Processing and storage of computers have improved, creating cheaper hardware and software tools. There is also a shift from mainframes to client/server systems and web-based services. In a healthcare organization, the information capturing, processing, and storage needs change with time and increase with the capacity. Therefore, there is the need for the Health Information Systems to keep up with the pace. Client/server-based processing provided by Health Information Systems allow for scalability of the processing and information capturing systems. Cloud storage, on the other hand, allows for scalability in the memory modules.

Compatibility

Compatibility of health information systems determines the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of consolidating information from two or more information systems. Creation of a functional healthcare provider networks ensures that their information systems are compatible (Skinner & Staiger, 2015). Therefore, patients attending different organizations within the provider network can easily access their records; arguably, compatibility of these systems is also essential when healthcare facilities face a merger.

Disadvantages of Health Information Systems

Cost

Installation and integration of Health information systems to an organization is costly. Each health organization requires a HIS that fits precisely into its purpose and needs; therefore, necessitating customization of the development of each system developed; this is one of the factors that contribute to its high pricing. Moreover, the set-up of the hardware components and its housing is expensive. In the case of introduction of such a system into an organization, training in its usage is paramount, and this results in the inflation of its operating cost.

Compatibility

In the case where two systems of healthcare information are not compatible, patient's health services when accessing these different places are deterred. They will, therefore, need to use traditional paperwork methods in information transfer (Avgerou & Walsham, 2017). Incompatibility also makes it hard for public health systems to track information necessary to the population of the region. Mergers between organizations with incompatible HIS is expensive and would require setting up a new system.

Usability

The usability of the systems by the staff requires some time to adapt. Within the adaptation period, there is a lag in the functions of the organization. Also, the technology changes fast, and there is need to adopt new methods within the Health Information Systems (Huckvale et al., 2015). Most times, these new methods require retraining of the staff. There is overdependency associated with computer-based Health information systems. In the case of presence of technical errors or a systems crash, the healthcare organization functions come to a standstill. Interconnections between departments result in a shutdown that affects all other branches when errors occur in only one section.

Susceptibility of the information to hackers

Medical information is private, and its security is paramount. Digitalization of medical information into Health Systems places the patient medical history and other organization information at the risk of hackers. The result is adverse legal and ethical issues affecting the organization (Skinner & Staiger, 2015). Cloud-based storage of data by online hosting services could also leak into the wrong hand.

How an Organization Will Influence Patient Care and Documentation

Improvement of medication safety

Medication error prevention strategies according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Care report fall into four categories. These are prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, and administration. The use of health information systems is designed to avoid errors in prescribing, recording, and distributing the medication to the patients (Blais, 2015). Health Information Systems Such as Barcode Medication Administering Technology, check that the specified and the administered medicine are concurring. The technology further confirms the patients' health condition, doses, and the therapeutic goal of the medication for congruence. The system also provides real-time information on the adverse effects of medicines through real-time surveillance and drug events alerts. Patient safety zones are further improved when nurses have real-time data based on trending data from medical cations laboratory values.

Standardizing patient care

A standard practice of medical care within a health care zone that uses the same Health Information System is possible. It would, therefore, be easy to create comparisons of the services rendered by the departments and detect errors in the practices (Waterson, 2014). Standardization practices improve the whole processes of documentation and medical services.

Evidence-based Practices

Health Information Systems provides information relevant for medical research and provides a comparison tool for medications and their outcomes. There are also materials on patient care, action plans, and all practices across the care setting. The provision of this standard system ensures that the decision of medical practitioner is based on a working standard proven by medical comparison and research. Non-standardization introduces the notion of self-inclined practices by doctors and nurses which do not follow the health promotion standards (Huckvale et al., 2015). The systems further generate and update patient materials that promote health literacy for the practitioner and the patients. It is however not the intention of standardized practice to eliminate individualized care to patients, but they are supposed to guide the nurses and doctors on the best way to approach a medical procedure.

The Impact of Using A System to Access Information

Transparency of nursing practices

Health Information Systems require recording of all procedures carried on a patient including medication administering and prescribing. The doctors and nurses also have to manually sort out the preference for medication and processes that are required for a patient and chose the best fit for the patient. All these rules are stipulated according to the American Health Information Management Association (Eason, 2014). Therefore, medical practitioners are inclined to be more careful with the way that they handle the patients and the procedures they use. It also allows for sharing of information between different medical organizations and with the patients. Overall the documentation and patient care options are improved.

Standardization of workflow to improve communication

An abbreviated medical practitioner tool of communication results from standardized health information systems. These methods enhance communication between different medical practitioners. The mechanism passes information on assessment, diagnoses, outcome planning and identification, implementation of procedures, and the final evaluation of the method. The tool allows for the transfer of patient information documentation between different doctors or nurses. Documentation of the processes follows "if it wasn't charted it wasn't done" principle (Huckvale et al., 2015). The basis of patient-centred care within a medical facility is proper communication between the different caregivers of the patient. Therefore, it is beneficial to the appropriate coordination of the caregivers. It also improves the interaction between practitioners in the various organization within a healthcare network. Thus, patients can move from one hospital to another and still have their records transferred easily through the Health Information System.

Quality Improvement (QI) Data Collected from a System Can Lead to Measurable Revamping in Health Care Services and Status of Targeted Patient Groups

Accountable care organizations

It is a healthcare initiative that encourages medical practitioners to give high-quality services to patients and coordinated care voluntarily. It consists of a group of healthcare practitioners mainly consisting of hospitals, doctors, health plans, and others who want to give coordinated care to the patients they serve. The coordinated care ensures that the patient who is chronically ill gets the right care at the specific times, with avoidance of errors and duplication of medical procedures. There is resultant high-quality care, and cost minimization, which result in better spending of the medical funds; arguably, since the only expenses incurred needs substantiating, it results in maximization of funds. The benefit goes mainly to the people from poor backgrounds as there is service provision...