Brigham and Women's Hospital's health care information system adoption

Health Care Information System

The study looks into the importance of health care information system and its latest innovation system. In this paper, I also analyze various innovated health care system which improves the delivery of services to patients. IT further looks at the case study of hospital or clinic which already using the said system. In this case the study looked at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and its pros and cons, then make a recommendation to the community health care management for adoption.

Information Technology (IT) is the best avenue, with a great potential to improve quality, safety and efficiency of Health care in the community. However, Health care information system (HCIS) can be defined as the gathering of programs and procedures, which can enable data entry, storage and the use of health care and administrative data about the patients, health care workers, health institution and other institutions connected with healthcare (Pesti?, Ozren, 2000).

Moreover, it's significant to emphasize that the goals for developing "Information System," is to improve health care. It also to make health care available to all people, regardless of geographical local and social -- economic status as stated by the World Health Organization (W.H.O) (Hawryluk, M. 2004). However, this system for health care normally compost of different components such as primary health care information system, outpatient management information system, public health care information system, pharmacies information system, health care funding system and Information system for the ministry of health. This makes the entire health care management system in most hospitals or clinics (Pestic, Ozren, 2000).

Besides, both public and private health care providers have agreed that "Health Care Information System," is a new way for providing patients with readily access information on their medical details, which could improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care. Unfortunately, there are relatively few health care providers which have fully adopted the health care information system. This is due to certain complexity of IT investment which goes beyond acquiring technology to change work process in our health facilities (Wager, Karen, 2004). But, it changes even culture of operation, it also compels physicians, nurses and other staff to use it (). It changes several policies such as payment that reward volume rather quality and fragmentation of care delivery (Rosemary Stockdale and Karen Day, 1997).

The provision of quality health care requires providers and patients to join together complex information from many different sources. As a result increasing the ability of physicians, nurses and clinical technicians readily access and use the right information about the patients which improve care (Lee, John P. Glaser, 2009).

However, the innovation in health care information system nowadays could allow patients to access their medical information, physicians and search about his/her illness and symptoms on the authorized web page of the Ministry of Health just at home through internet. Besides, patients can have an access to different team and their success in the medical field and solving problems similar to what he/she suffers from and make appropriately appointment to that particular physician (Lee, John P. Glaser, 2009).

Technology Underlying Health Care Information System

The technology behind health care information is very broad and technical, which involves various phases of Information Technology (IT). The core technology which is involved are system software, this where the program is design by software engineers, it gain has data management and access section which deals with its management of stored data.

However, nothing can happen without network, which brings communication among various machines within the organization. Then we have information processing section where all information is being synthesized before transmission takes place. Again, for data transmission to take place we must have internet, intranets and extranet.

It also does require a design structure to place its operations and management easy and understandable by all employees who are supposed to use it. Therefore, trainings are part of plan that is always being placed in consideration during the planning time. This system needs clinic system parts and interface which is users friendly for everyone, to provide easy time even new employees to find it quite users friendly.

Example: A structure design of Healthcare Information System

E-prescribing Technology

It's an electronically prescription, generation and transmission of drugs to patients. After which the prescription could either be faxed or mailed to a person. It also assists physicians, nurses and other practitioners to electronically transmit a new prescription or renewal authorization of drugs to a community or by mail order to pharmacy.

When you compare E-prescription with paper-based prescription, e-prescription enhance patient safety and medication fulfillment, even accuracy and efficiency of prescription improve, which therefore reduces the cost of health care cost (Larry, 2002). It could further improve the efficiency by eliminating errors which normally occurred when drugs are prescribed to a patient.

E-prescribing also may play a significant role in efforts to reduce the incidence of drug diversion by alerting providers and pharmacists of duplicative prescriptions for controlled substances.

The listed are the benefits of E-prescription to the community and medication practitioners as well:

E-prescription safe the time spends to fax prescription to pharmacies. By so doing both parties (prescriber and pharmacist) safe time, labor and resources hence low cost.

It further increases the drug surveillance and recall capacity, the system queries and report analysis could be generated which help to patients prescription method, type of medication which may be used at a later time by physician.

Therefore, it is the best healthcare information system innovation which could change how people in our community receive medical services from hospitals.

This would be the best system since it had been used by other hospitals across the country for example General Hospital in Massachusetts and Brigham and Women Hospital. It has proved right to majority of physicians; doctors researchers, nurses and other medical practitioner use it to deliver quick service to patients. It does matter where the prescriber is since it can be loaded on the PDA and access any time (Shapiro. Ruth, 2008).

It has allowed policy makers and patients to control fast rising drugs, which in Massachusetts the cost of drugs in Brigham and Women hospital fairly low and affordable, because e-prescription contained even the insurer's data of every clients which facilitate fast transmission in terms of payment.

According to data obtained from Brigham and Women's Hospital, patients are charged fairly low and co-payment for generic mediators, this encourages people to use generic name of the time. For example instead of saying drug, the patients ought to say (tie 1), and would be charged low. But, the main challenge with system is that, lack of current data on insurer's prescription drug formularies at the moment of prescribing (Boxerman, 2008). Finally doctors who used e-prescription are accounts for approximately over two hundred thousand (200,000) files.

In recommending the management to adopt the E-prescription Technology in a community Healthcare where I live. First I would advise the organization to get a system champion. Someone respected in the organization and has a passion for information technology for health care. This would push the project through various stages to the implementation stage. However, I would advice the management to visit Brigham and Women's Hospital to learn how their system works and advantages it comes with at first hand.

In conclusion, I believe if the management system for Health care is to be upgraded or the innovated one is required. Then E-prescription fit the need of the health care in our community, to improve services and improve quality.

References:

Eliezer Geisler, (2000). Encyclopedia of Healthcare Information Systems;

Nulmini Wackramasinghe, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA

Wager. Karen. W. Lee, John P. Glaser, (2009). HealthCare Information Systems

A practical for Healthcare management; New Approaches in Medicare

Austin, C.J., & Boxerman, S.B. (2008). Information systems healthcare management (7th ed.)

Health Administration Press. Assignment: Write a paper