Information Management in Healthcare System

In the age of information, rapid transfer of electronic data is what drives productivity and decision-making. Recording and managing health information in electronic formats is becoming widespread globally. There is a rapid advancement seen in the field of Health Information Technology (HIT) and it has become crucial for health care leaders to develop and invest in digitally enabled healthcare systems.

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) system is an official health record for an individual, which can be shared among multiple healthcare institutions and agencies. Having an EHR help provide patients with medical care at the pace of the modern life. Rapid transfer of patient health information makes real- time decision making quick and patient care more efficient and effective.

The digitalized health care record is used to improve effectiveness, provide quality patient care and if used properly can aid in fraud prevention. Proper management of this digital health information is very crucial, if not managed properly, the outcomes can be disastrous for both the patient and the organization.

HIT is an important tool that motivates the growth and development of the web technologies and enhance healthcare delivery.

"Implementing eHealth through web applications and its portals, open the door for a patient-centric healthcare system throughout the world."

(Mohemmed, & Rahamathulla, 2020, p.1015).

Trends & Issues

The HIT has been growing rapidly and is now being used to determine and extract important health trends and formulate prompt preventive care plans. The electronic health care data collected by institutions are used to record and communicate diagnoses, treatments, and clinical services provided to the patient. It is also used to predict diseases, planning and managing resources, health care funding, epidemiological analysis, education, and for research purposes.

By monitoring trends in population outcomes, we can estimate individual patient costs. This will set guidelines for the health care system to better allocate funds and resources in order to minimize waste and maximize efficiency.

Regulatory Body

Healthcare data contain sensitive and personal patient information and hence appropriate security measures should be taken to protect data at each stage of data management. Protecting patient sensitive data is very crucial for the healthcare institutions. It is a shared responsibility both by the HCPs and the organization. There are provincial and territorial privacy commissioners that offer guidance for each jurisdiction.

Ontario’s health privacy legislation, the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), establishes a set of rules and guidelines for the collecting, using, retaining, disclosing and disposing of personal health information by all health care agencies across Ontario.

Although EMR provides easy storing, seamless access to patient health record which has greatly improved the management of patient care. However, we should remember it does present some degree of privacy risk and breech of confidential patient record.

As electronic health records (EHRs) have become widespread in the Canadian healthcare system, it is the responsibility of the Health care leaders to design and build appropriate web services to manage all the health care data, and find ways to make it more reliable and efficient.

"Organizations must ensure that health information technologies are continuously updated to comply with recent best clinical practices, regulatory standards, and technical stability."

(Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017, p. 1179)

References

Alotaibi, Y. K., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi medical journal, 38(12), 1173–1180. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5787626/pdf/SaudiMedJ-38-1173.pdf

Chen, P.T., Lin, C.L., & Wu, W.N. (2020). Big Data Management in Healthcare: Adoption Challenges and Implications. International Journal of Information Management, 53. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026840121830937X

eHealth. (2010). Government of Canada. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-system/ehealth.html

Health information management: Driving patient care and public health policy. (2017). National Post. Retrieved from https://0-search-proquest-com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/docview/1921215395?accountid=8408

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care August. (2004). Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004: An Overview for Health Information Custodians. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/project/priv_legislation/info_custodians.pdf

Mohemmed, S. M., & Rahamathulla, M. P. (2020). Cloud-based Healthcare data management Framework. KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems, 14(3), 1014- 1025. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=cb43afed-29ac-45f0-8c96-f2e854c85b33%40pdc-v-sessmgr02