Essay on Computer Literacy
To make the work of health care facilities more effective, integrated information systems are needed. They are usually regarded as healthcare information systems or hospital information systems (HIS). A hospital will need information systems to process its services and data regarding not only medical, but also financial, administrative and legal aspects. Almost all the process that once were processes manually on papers, now can be transferred into computers which make up the central component of comprehensive integrated information systems. For such a system, the development of client-server architectures will be required for networking and processing, whereas cloud computing alternatives seem to be less effective because the public tends to reject the way data of individual patient records services are secured. Data security is an important question since a lot of personal or even intimate data are usually gathered by nurses and physicians and need to be protected from undesirable access.
Like any other information system, HIS will include hardware, software, database, networking and so on. As for hardware, admission department as well as each room should be provided with processors and monitors, keyboards and other devices to accept and process the data. Printer as well as copy machine will be also required for certain tasks regarding documentation. As for software, these are the programs that will help the users to work with hardware. Special software components for medical specialties can be provided. As Shortliffe and Cimino (111) specify, such subsystems include Laboratory Information System (LIS), Policy and Procedure Management System, Radiology Information System (RIS) or Picture archiving and communication system (PACS). All the data will be gathered as files and tables in databases. Different branches of database can have different level of access. Then, the commands uniting the other components for information processing and preferred output production is known as procedures. Finally, there can be no information system without those who use the other elements, either information technology specialists who are responsible for their proper operation, take safety measures and manage the data or common users within the hospital who interface with hardware and software and make use of their output. Hardware, software, database and network are united into a single information technology platform. While considering hospital information system, first of all information system strategy should be worked out. Further, such areas of work as information systems management, information systems development, iteration and organization need to be approached.
During consideration information technology specialist should keep it in mind that the aim of information system for a hospital is to keep patient-related data in order by networked electronic data processing through which patient care is supported and healthcare outcomes are easier achieved.
As it has been already mentioned above, to guarantee data security there will be several categories of access. Total access will belong to the head of the hospital information system department. Being qualified and experienced in computer systems, this person will also bear ethical responsibility. The head of the HIS department will not contact with the patients directly, but he or she will be the one to control the access of other staff to the protected data. Additionally, there may be a need for a database administrator for ensuring high uptime of the information system as well as handling the back-up and restoration activities within the database. What is more, sometimes it is useful to hire an application specialist and a software vendor to train the staff of the hospital to use the software effectively and correctly. Finally, hardware engineers will be responsible for troubleshooting activities without any extra access to doubtful data. As for users, these are generally nurses and physicians. Here the access may be granted separately by departments.
As for the database itself, the data in it will be classified by several categories, including demographic, social, gender, age and other factors known from the records, application forms, surveys and so on. HIS is intended to provide easy access to patient data first of all, especially at out-patient (ambulatory) level. Diet of patient and drug usage, engineering and distribution of medical aid are accurately monitored through the HIS. In this way, a broad image of the hospital’s advance is received and the effectiveness is thus continuously studied. At the same time, Internet-based access is a separate sphere of responsibility for the IT department. A patient or a potential patient will receive information about the schedule, insurance, payment conditions and other details of the hospital’s operation without leaving home or office. What is more, there can be a chat room organized for the patient to discuss their feelings about the services they receive at the hospital. Online consultations will be extremely beneficial too.
Apart from that, healthcare information systems are considered as decision support system for the hospital authorities for developing comprehensive health care policies (Shortliffe and Cimino 136).
In this way, properly organized information system will enhance the information integrity, to optimize report turnaround, reduce duplication of information entries, and reduce various transcript errors for the hospital databases.
