Part 1: Describe the role of analytics in healthcare. How does HIT support or hinder this?

Thanks to today’s advances in technology, the relevance of analytics in healthcare cannot be overstated. As a matter of fact, Cornelius (2015) points out that “advances in technology have enabled the medical community to generate and capture more data than ever before” (p. 95). In essence, analytics in healthcare has got to do with the utilization of the available (and relevant) data, i.e. patient data, to derive meaningful as well as actionable insights. The said data is often obtained from EMRs/EHRs.

In basic terms, it is via analytics that both structured and unstructured data is transformed into information that is not only meaningful, but also useful as far as the further enhancement of the efficiency of services offered in a healthcare setting is concerned. In the final analysis, therefore, analytics come in handy in the organization of data “to improve patient health and outcomes, help prevent and detect diseases, and diagnose diseases with more accuracy” (Cornelius, 2015, p. 95). Health information technology (HIT) comes in handy in this endeavor. This is more so the case given the enormous amount of data capable of being generated in any health...

It would be impossible for health care personnel to manage such data without the help or assistance of computerized systems.
In addition to helping reduce (or in some cases eliminate) error in the handling of medical data, HIT enhance efficiency, and help in the better management of costs on this front. Technological advances, and more specifically HIT, according to Kabene and Wolfe (as cited in Kabene, 2010), “have made way for the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs), the comprehensive compilation of health care provided to an individual over their lifetime – an exciting and impressive accomplishment” (p. 60).

Part 2:

1. How would a manager use economic theory to maximize profit price for a service or product?

It should be noted, from the onset, that the neoclassical economic theory posits that “consumers and producers hold alternative behavioral goals: preference maximization, and profit maximization” (Walt, 2005, p. 278). In this case, we shall be limiting ourselves to the latter, i.e. profit maximization. Profit maximization has got to do with the minimization of costs while at the same time pursuing the highest level of profit. To compute profit, an entity deducts total costs (TC) from…