Nurse Comp Nursing Perspectives on Computerized Management Systems

For a community hospital with one hundred beds spread out over the usual number of departments and staffed by large numbers of individuals working in a variety of disciplines and teams, few things are more important than efficiency. Efficiency does not only mean moving fast, however, or accomplishing tasks in the shortest amount of time and with the fewest resources possible; it also means achieving high levels of accuracy and solid quality performance in all tasks and operations. There are a variety of tools that can help boost overall quality and efficiency in healthcare organizations and medical facilities, and developing technologies continue to provide more and more methods for achieving efficiency. This paper will examine computerized management systems generally and compare two specific alternatives for such systems, concluding with recommendations for adoption.

Potential Increase in Quality of Care

Electronic and computerized healthcare management systems can improve the quality of care patients receive through a variety of means, including the greater coordination of care via enlarged access to patient data (O'Malley et al. 2009). The cost-effectiveness of such systems is a more indirect manner in which the quality of care is impacted, yet the savings generated by the use of such systems can be substantial, leading to more resources for other directly medical needs (Blackwell & Blackwell 2008). Web-based programs are making communication and data transfer much more rapid and comprehensive than before, as well (Steurbaut et al. 2010).

Nursing Involvement

The involvement of nursing perspectives on the selection and implementation of a new care management system is of great importance due to the role nurses play...

Basic nursing functions such as the recording of vital statistics and other patient data are at the root of effectively utilizing computer-based management systems, as it is this type of data that can be enhanced and more easily accessed via the use of such systems. Proper and effective utilization of computerized healthcare management systems requires adequate knowledge amongst the human resources that will be inputting and accessing data via these systems, and nurses will likely form one of the most frequent user groups of any such technology; nursing input as to the selection of the proper system and the implementation of its use is thus crucial to project success.
Handheld Devices

Improving the portability, speed, and accuracy of information is a key benefit of computerized management systems, and handheld devices can increase these benefits still further. From calling up prescriptions at the bedside to inputting care statistics and even to receiving urgent communications from either human or computerized sources, handheld devices make information more accessible and thus care more effective (Van Ornum 2009; O'Malley et al. 2009). Both of the systems reviewed for this study, MEDENT and Amazing Charts, can incorporate handheld technologies into their use (Edsall & Adler 2009).

Security and Confidentiality

Confidentiality can be a major concern of computerized healthcare management systems, though this is largely a matter of perception more than it is an issue of truly increased risk over paper record-keeping methods. Even in studies involving sensitive health issues, security and confidentiality issues were not heavily mentioned if noticed at all by patients or medical practitioners (Sahota et al. 2011). MEDENT was perceived as having better training…