Current Health Care Information Systems

     “Many medical organizations have invested heavily in electronic health records (EHR) and health information exchange (HIE) information systems (IS) to improve medical decision-making and increase efficiency (Ben-Assuli, Shabtai, & Leshno, 2013).”  This means that investing in the EHR and HIE information systems the health care organizations are able to provide better quality care to their patients.  For example, a patient is being treated in the physician’s office for an ear infection.  This patient has a history of being allergic to specific antibiotics which is documented within the EHR. When the physician begins documenting the current diagnosis and treatment the system will pull up the allergy this patient has had in the past which will help to prevent the physician from prescribing this medication to this patient. It could also be as simple as you going to the Dr for a reoccurring problem, your Dr can use your EHR to see what tests have been done so far as to not make you have the same test all over again, if the Dr is stumped he/she could use a mobile device to contact a college for some advice or direction.

      “Hospital implementation of HIT was positively associated with activities intended to improve patient care quality and with higher performance on four of six performance measures (Restuccia, et. al., 2012).”  Every health care organization works to improve upon the care they provide to their patients.  Implementing health information technology has aided in these improvements.  The quality of care provided to the patient is essential because the patient is going to tell friends and family about the care that they have received from the facility.  When the quality of care is not up-to-standard, the patient is going to be less likely to recommend the facility to anyone when they are in need of health care treatment.I know this first hand as the facility I used to work at, I had heard bad things about how patients were treated. A friend of mine told me that there were picketers outside the facility, and news camera crews were there to film it after I had left the job. That is not something any facility wants.

           More recently, the health care organizations have begun to use a new form of technology which will allow more remote patients to receive care that they desperately need.  This technology is known as virtual consultations.  “Virtual consultation between physicians may provide a method of streamlining care, potentially saving patients the time and expense of added visits (Palen, et. al., 2012).”  These consultations can be done with the use of an internet connection along with a system that includes a monitor, a webcam, and audio equipment.  This type of consultation can create a way in which a patient can utilize the experience of a specialist while setting in their primary care physician’s office.  For example, a patient has been diagnosed with a mental illness and must utilize the services of a therapist.  This therapist is located in another town that will consist of traveling two hours to get to the appointment and another two hours to get back home.  The use of virtual consultations will allow the patient to receive therapy from the professional without the four hours of travel time.  This creates a more financially compatible service for the patient and the health professionals alike.I wish the VA would use this technology, I have my appointment that take time for me to get there, get checked in, wait for the Dr then go through my test results etc, to me all this could be done with a Virtual consultation. I would rather do the waiting at home or maybe I could take a break at lunch and have a virtual visit from my smartphone or tablet. That would be nice

       

  Current health care information systems have brought about ways in which patient-centered care is more prevalent than the potential for financial gains.  This means that patients are able to put more trust in the care that they receive from their health care providers because the up-to-date health care information systems allows the providers to focus more on the patient and a little less on the paperwork that used to be involved in the patient care.At the end of the day isn't that what all this new technology, EHR's HIE's and IS , is for? Yes vendors make money, hospitals and facilities make money, although without the patients they wouldn't make the money. The better you treat the customer(patients) the more money you will receive.  Seems like everyone wins.

Ben-Assuli, O., Shabtai, I., & Leshno, M. (2013). The impact of EHR and HIE on reducing avoidable admissions: Controlling main differential diagnoses. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Restuccia, J., Cohen, A., Horwitt, J., & Shwartz, M. (2012). Hospital implementation of health information technology and quality of care: Are they related? BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 12. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Palen, T. E., Price, D., Shetterly, S., & Wallace, K. B. (2012). Comparing virtual consults to traditional consults using an electronic health record: An observational case-control study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 12. Retrieved from ProQuest database.