The use of information and communication systems in the health care system seeks to improve the provision of medical services. The integration of information technologies leads to effective and equitable health care. It applies the strategy of establishing a common health information facility. Information and exchanges are relevant in all levels of health care delivery including the patients and care providers. It also ensures that the three major forms of clinical details and information are available. The clinical information includes the patient’s record, changing medical evidence-based information, and the process of patient health care (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2009). It also ensures the significance of patient information on relevant administrative functions. The paper will provide a clear analysis of the use of information systems in the clinical processes for comprehensive health care.
In integrating the critical information processes, the healthcare sector faces various challenges. These challenges include the need for education and necessary training, decision support systems, information, and communications tools. In administering individual patients’ care, the partners need to understand the design of their own care. At the organization level, clinical services require adequate clinical, financial and administrative information in order to access and enhance the value of their hospital operations. Environmentally, the integration of the information and communication systems requires government funding to improve the regulatory oversights (Duan, Street, & Xu, 2011). This assists in advancing public health, evaluating new forms of healthcare, and disseminating new medical knowledge.
Clinical information and information exchanges must be in line with the tactical and strategic approach of the engineering tools of the systems. The information and information exchange is preliminary for the National Health Information Network (NHIN). The NHIN focuses on an IT-enabled clinical system that uses technology to achieve improved quality and reduce costs involved. It also assists in the monitoring of the incentives and actual benefits relating to total cost transformations (Velde & Degoulet, 2003). Therefore, the use of information technologies seeks to expand the aspects of information including information collection, processing, and application at all levels of the health care programs.
Based on reliable research on the health care sector, clinical information systems would lead to the acquisition and application of operational aspects of health care delivery. Healthcare-related information technologies concentrate on the administrative function of the organization rather than clinical care. Thus, this has led to the prolonged underinvestment in the sectors causing little progress towards meeting the information needs of the clinics, patients, and healthcare providers. Many factors have led to information and communications technology integration deficiencies. These include undercapitalization of the provider groups, non-transparency in their operations of the health care products and processes, and historical weaknesses in the management of the health care sector (Bates & Gawande, 2003). Despite most of the information system having been incorporated into the regular health care process, there remains much to be discovered.
In summary, despite information processing and management being crucial to health care delivery, there is a need to invest in information and communication technologies. The development of clinical information systems brings about the potential to enhance the quality of the health care processes. This indicates the probable way of presenting patient-related information in a more organized manner. The scientific disciplines have been associated with the improvement of the information and information exchanges in the health care processes. The use of information and information exchanges faces many challenges including existing cultural barriers relating to the hierarchical approach in the health care sector and immature technical functions.
References
Bates, D. W., & Gawande, A. A. (2003). Improving safety with information technology. New England journal of medicine, 348(25), 2526-2534.
Duan, L., Street, W. N., & Xu, E. (2011). Healthcare information systems: data mining methods in the creation of a clinical recommender system. Enterprise Information Systems, 5(2), 169-181.
Velde, V. R., & Degoulet, P. (2003). Clinical information systems: a component-based approach. London: Springer.
Wager, A. K., Lee, W. F., & Glaser, P. J. (2009). Health care information systems: A practical approach for health care management. New York: John Wiley & Sons