Question

How can information systems be successfully managed in health care ?

Answer 1

Health Care Information System (HCIS)

Information syatems and it's management is the lifeblood of any health care organization attempting to manage problems. Health care professionals recognize that a large percentage of their activities relates to information management. Healthcare Information Systems has significantly changed the way of storing and managing the information as easily as we carry out our day to day activities. Hospital management software plays a major role in simplifying various hospitals processes. Healthcare analytics and big data solutions incorporate several crucial features that help in the smooth running of the day to day operations of a hospital. They are aimed at managing all the aspects of a hospital and cover specific areas such as reception, inpatients, outpatients and so on.

Management of information systems requires proper planning and decision making in health facilities and organizations. Healthcare organizations (HCOs) are increasingly challenged to look at their operations and find new opportunities to reorganize their processes, in order to improvethe efficiency and effectiveness of their services, reduce costs, be more competitive, and also provide high quality and more personalized patient care.

Patient information systems, for example, have the ability to track individual health problems and treatment over time, giving insight into optimal diagnosis and treatment of the individual as well as improving the delivery of services. This is particularly useful for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and for maternal and child health services where a record of health and treatment over a period of time is required. Analysis of data in patient information systems can lead to new insight and understanding of health and disease, both chronic and acute.

Health care facilities become more information-intensive with the management of health care information system (HCIS) (Association, 1984).

HCIS is increasingly intrinsic to the organization's proper functioning, serving a critical mission in hospitals. HCIS becomes providing company-wide computing which is to say that HCIS lies at the heart of the health care organization.

Many advances in information technology could become potent forces leading to changes in the future health care environment:

1. Networks for communication : HCIS is becoming a database of knowledge and a channel for communication. This change is vividly visible in the growing concern for sharing data through efficient but secure database management, and in a growing emphasis on interactive queries rather than standard reports. Networks of HCIS between institutions, health care workers, and private individuals will permit a continuous flow of information with feedback.

2. Coordination : One application of HCIS is the systems can provide vehicles for transportation through which interested physicians may have input to the health care service coordination process and encourage their involvement. Another example is the drug delivery system, a term that has come to refer to any of the potential information technologies for administering drugs, whether implanted or external.

3. Decision : HCIS features, including links to existing hospital databases and on-line literature sources, and automatic report generators, will allow doctors to enter requests for test results and receive readouts in a timely manner. Decision support software will also be available online, to aid in diagnosis and determination of appropriate treatment.

4. Monitoring : HCIS can be used to monitor the status and quality of health care operations and health care industry trends. In hospitals, monitoring and evaluation can be improved through the collection of routine operational data within HCIS. Hospitals can use HCIS to track nurses' performance (Helmer & Suver, 1980). Such a system relies on the integration of two kinds of functions, data base management and statistical analysis of data.

Successful implementation of HCIS recognizes not only the skilful employment of management but also the adoption of cost management. These management actions are intended to reduce risks and to create the way for capturing the all the benefits. Cost reduction due to labour saved in performing clerical tasks often is a primary motivation for implementing a HCIS. The database managed and controlled by Information System specialists of various sub-units of an organization constitute the information utility. The end-users, through their desktop terminals, access the information utility for health care service that is either directly usable or indirectly usable.

The issue is not whether information systems will play a pervasive role in the health care environment of the future, but rather how we can ensure that HCISs are implemented and managed effectively to optimize information technology's role as a stimulus and support for the health care organization and for individual practitioners.

Recognition of the structure and infrastructure of HCIS has significant implications for the management of health care environment, and for further research into HCIS implementation. Until the structure and infrastructure change, hospitals will be slow to adopt the information systems. Future studies aimed at developing on-line medical databases and decision support systems will have the greatest potential for improving hospital services in the future.