Strategic planning and information systems for vitamin D deficiency treatment

Healthcare

Delivery of Quality Health Care

The good old saying; health is wealth is as valid today as it was at the time when it was said. Health is the most important construct of human happiness. It is a unique element which cannot be substituted by any other thing on the face of earth. It is no exaggeration to say that all the facilities and privileged of life can be enjoyed only by the healthy person.

Keeping in view the importance of healthy life for human beings, many of the advancements made by mankind revolve around healthcare. Diseases are very natural and one may suffer from diseases because of a factor which is not identified by human beings as yet. However, there are many causes of bad health which have been explored and accommodated in the healthcare system so that man is better able to enjoy the luxuries of life.

Since mankind has always remained concerned about the efficient use of scarce resources, strategic planning has enjoyed much importance in the research centric circles. The responsible bodies have taken special measures to evaluate the quality of healthcare facilities provided to the masses. This evaluation is crucial to identify the need of improvement to these facilities. The improvement is necessary from two perspectives.

The advancements in science and technology have upgraded the human lifestyle and medical healthcare facilities need to be modernized to make them efficient and affordable.

The industrialization has posed serious threats to people of modern age. Many new health risks are identified which cannot be managed without advanced healthcare systems.

In lieu of these two factors, strong relationship is established between strategic planning, performance improvement and information systems so that delivery of quality healthcare can be assured. Strategic planning is required for sustainable development in healthcare sector so that future generations are not deprived of their due share of resources. Performance improvement measures are required to align the healthcare facilities with emerging challenges so that effective plan can be devised. Information systems are used as tools to fulfill various requirements of healthcare system. Information systems are gift of modern technology which has automated many operations and relieved human being from the hassle of pondering upon recording and analysis of daily matters. Nowadays, information systems are powerful enough to highlight discrepancy in the current procedures and need for advancements in them.

The paper explains the relationship between strategic planning, performance improvement, information systems and the delivery of quality health care. The specific issue to be explored in the paper is related to deficiency of Vitamin D in adults. The paper casts light upon how these factors are related with each other and why they are crucial to develop an effective healthcare plan. This topic is selected as the modern world has deprived human beings from various physical activities which used to keep him fit in the past. It is also important to explore since many diseases are diagnosed whose treatment is not present in the modern medical science. The physicians may misdiagnose the disease and prescribe the wrong treatment which may harm the lives of individuals.

Research Sources

Natural News (2005) conducted considerably rich research on vitamin D and its requirements in the human body. It states that the only and the greatest source of Vitamin D is ultra violet rays present is sunlight. These ultra violet rays cannot pass through glass hence sitting in the sun does not always means exposure to sunlight. It presented another important finding about the myths of vitamin D that it is found in calcium rich foods. It stated that a person, who drinks almost ten glasses of milk daily, can get only minimum required level of vitamin D and will be ranked as vitamin D inadequate person. The article specifically addressed the people living in the countries far away from equator that the requirement of sunlight exposure to have sufficient Vitamin D in body is directly and positively related to the distance from equator. The countries which are away from equator get less share of ultra violet rays and their citizens are more likely to be vitamin D inadequate.

US National Institute of Health (NIH, 2012) conducted research on essence of Vitamin D It states that nerve system, immune system and muscles are directly linked with vitamin D The deficiency of vitamin D causes serious disturbance in these systems. A person may become obese, subject to increased cholesterol and his bones are more likely to have rickets.

Having discussed it, it is important to highlight the causes of vitamin D deficiency. People misunderstand that it can be obtained from food items or supplements. No food item or supplement can be the substitute of vitamin D Many people are confused about the fact that sunlight is the source of vitamin D at what time and to which duration. People feel that passing through sun is sufficient to have adequate level of vitamin D Many people are of the view that they live in hot areas hence it is impossible that they are vitamin D deficient.

As mentioned earlier, people report the health issues which are linked with other deficiencies and life style. It is difficult to establish their direct connection with deficiency of vitamin D The diagnosis is incorrect most of the times and only experienced family physicians send the patients for vitamin D Its test is usually expensive and people tend to bypass direction to have this test. There are always excuses for non-exposition to sunlight and people find it really difficult to spare 30 minutes every day to sit in direct sunlight.

Here comes the role of strategic planners and healthcare system evaluators. The responsible bodies should embed all the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in health care information system and the health issues of all patients must be matched with them. There should be strong system of monitoring the vitamin D level in human body on regular intervals after the patient is declared to be vitamin D deficient.

In the context of information system, it is important to mention that if people move from one location to another, their health data should be moved to the other country to develop required health plan for that very individual. As mentioned earlier, vitamin D deficiency is the function of season and geography as well; there should be proactive measures to judge that the moving people may be prone to different level of vitamin D production in their body if the areas are significantly far from each other. The role of Bio-Informatics is crucial in this regard. It helps health systems to communicate with each other and generate the reports which are helpful in devising effective health plans (ABCC, 2012).

Since provision of healthcare facilities is the prime responsibility of government in welfare state, it should ensure that people are aware of the necessity of sunlight for production of vitamin D in human body. There must be special arrangements for public awareness that sunlight is beneficial to health and easily accessible programs should be arranged for it.

Conclusion

The biggest source of Vitamin D is direct exposure to sunlight for considerably long period of time. The modern life style has compelled the human beings to stay in-door to protect themselves from sun and heat. High industrialization has deprived them from the natural minerals and most of the food items are frozen. Hence, Vitamin D deficiency is on rise.

In order to control this situation, it is recommended that human beings get themselves exposed to direct sunlight. In this way, they can protect their bones from degeneration and refrain themselves from back pain, headache and difficulty is placing feet on floor. The responsible bodies should carefully analyze the impact of their luxurious offering to the human beings so that dangerous impact can be removed and the facilities can be made more comfortable and enjoyable.

Annotated Bibliography

ABCC. (2012). Bioinformatics Projects. Available from http://isp.ncifcrf.gov/abcc/abcc-groups/bioinformatics/projects/

It casts light upon the various projects which are conducted in the domain of medical science in conjunction with computer science. The combination makes it Bio-informatics where movement of systems information is regulated.

CBC News. (2010). Vitamin D deficiency in 1.1 million Canadians. Available from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2010/03/23/vitamin-d-levels-canada.html

Almost 4% population of Canada is vitamin D deficient. The figure of 4% seems negligible at a glance but when it is converted to head count, it becomes 1.1 million. The situation is alarming for health care responsible bodies of Canada.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Vitamin D Status: United States, 2001-2006. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db59.htm

This article elaborates that Vitamin D content in human being depends upon various factors like age, gender, nationality, season and geographical area. It highlights that vitamin D sufficiency has declined in U.S. In the past few years.

Natural News. (2005). Vitamin D Myths, Facts and Statistics. Available from http://www.naturalnews.com/003069.html

This article casts light upon the common myths people have in their minds about Vitamin D People believe that they can have adequate level of vitamin D as their lifestyle allows them to go in the sun every now and then. They forget to realize the importance of factors like their skin color, distance of their country from equator, their duration to be in sunlight, their application of sun block creams and unfit kidney and liver.

NIH. (2012). Vitamin D Available from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamind.html

It highlights the scientific fact that Vitamin D is crucial for absorption of Calcium. In absence of vitamin D, Calcium supplements or food may turn in vain. There are many other diseases which are linked with deficiency of vitamin D It includes rickets and osteoporosis.