The aim of this project is to scrutinize the newly acquired healthcare informatics system to access its efficiency in service delivery and compare it with the old system to determine notable improvements. However, the new informatics system will be adopted gradually and systematically since the existing one will be retained for patient management functions such as admission, transfer and discharge, and financial management. The major change is being done in the Clinical Information System (CIS), which will be replaced entirely (Scott, 2007).
Various reasons explain why the project has been implemented. In the contemporary world, methods of doing business have changed dramatically due to the dynamism of technological advancement and changes. Besides, people have become immensely advanced due to developments of the information systems that have eased access to up-to-date information (November, 2012). Additionally, the medical field has improved greatly due to advanced technology and development of modern informatics tools that have helped to improve service delivery and patient care.
Another reason for the installation of informatics in the health care environment is the human factors from both patients and healthcare workers. The majority of patients have become interested in getting involved in the patient care services. For instance, patients suffering from chronic illnesses have prolonged treatment and care services. Therefore, they should be updated about their health issues regularly. Informatics systems help to convey health information to the patients through portal displays, thus passing on data to the knowledgeable patients. Hence, the adoption of informatics is aimed at bettering patient care through improved service delivery system.
Looking into the clinical improvements, the adoption of informatics in the health facilities aims at the improvement of service delivery. Healthcare facilities should have efficient systems in terms of time saving and delivering improved patient care services. Although the current system is said to be user-friendly since it does not require technical training, it is inefficient for saving time that is needed to deliver services. For instance, clinical information system (CIS) is not easily accessible to the healthcare practitioners, hence the need for the adoption of a system that is accessible and capable of delivering up-to-date information (Huser & Cimino, 2013).
Additionally, the new system will improve the management processes of the healthcare services. The system allows for decentralized management system whereby various departments are managed at a central location (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2014). Other notable improvements include easy management of human resource and access to information and resources for research. Healthcare facilities require enough human capital to ensure that they deliver quality services. Therefore, they normally have a large population of workers. Hence, the human resource management is tedious especially in large health care facilities, and thus the adoption of informatics helps to ease the management of human capital. Therefore, the mode of medics training has developed to include the training courses on the application of informatics to ensure improved processes in health care provision.
Looking into the safety of patients, the ultimate goal is to deliver high-quality services to patients, and thus their safety is a priority to ensure that their lives are not put at risk (Schenk & Hajos, 2005). The administration of health services is gradually moving towards universal healthcare systems in the world. Therefore, there are universal regulations governing the adoption of informatics and training of technical operators and health practitioners. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other bodies govern these regulations to ensure that patient’s safety is prioritized in the administration of treatment and other healthcare services.
Additionally, the training is a way of meeting regulatory requirements since there has been a change in the administration of some treatments using informatics. For instance, complex surgeries require the usage of advanced informatics to increase the success rate of the procedure. Hence, the training program on Informatics is focused on the improvement of delivery of health services (Alexander & Kroposki, 2001).
Looking into the impacts of informatics on finance, the adoption of modern technology comes with a high cost of the services. The health facilities incur high costs of acquiring the system as well as maintenance. Moreover, informatics systems require technical experts to monitor operations regularly, which then has an impact on the finances incurred as the cost of labor in the financial reports. However, the huge cost is transferred to patients and financiers of the healthcare sector.
Lastly, the risks associated with the adoption of informatics in the heath sector are likely to bear adverse effects on the health profession and safety of patients. Just like in any other profession, the overreliance on machinery suppresses creativity and self-confidence. Hence, most probably, few medics will be in a position to work without using informatics in the future. Therefore, it will be hard to deliver health services whenever the machines breakdown. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the cost of health services is rapidly rising beyond the affordable levels of majority people in the world due to the high costs incurred in acquiring and maintaining the Informatics.
References
Alexander, W., & Kroposki, M. (2005). Nursing theory and concept development analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 35(5), 776-783.
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (2014). ASHP statement on the pharmacy technician’s role in pharmacy informatics. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 71(3), 247–250.
Huser, V., & Cimino, J. (2013). Don’t take your EHR to heaven, donate it to science: Legal and research policies for EHR post mortem. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(1), 8–12.
November, J. (2012). Biomedical Computing: Digitizing Life in the United States. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
Schenk, J., & Hajos, K. (2005). Measures of success: Paying attention to key performance metrics will eventually reduce global clinical development times and deliver innovative treatments earlier. Applied Clinical Trials, 14(4), 49-58.
Scott, K. A. (2007). Managing the threat of lost knowledge through technology and teamwork. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 31(2), 17-21.