Management of Information in Health Care Organizations
After reading this chapter, you should know the answers to these questions:
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Lynn Harold Vogel
After reading this chapter, you should know the answers to these questions: • What are the primary information requirements of health care organizations (HCOs)? • What are the clinical, financial, and administrative functions provided by health care information systems (HCISs), and what are the potential benefits of implementing such systems? • How have changes in health care delivery models changed the scope and requirements of HCISs over time? • How do differences among business strategies and organizational structures influence information systems choices? • What are the major challenges to implementing and managing HCISs? • How are ongoing health care reforms, technological advances, and changing social norms likely to affect HCIS requirements in the future?
14.1
Overview
Health care organizations (HCOs), like many other business entities, are information-intensive enterprises. Health care personnel require sufficient data and information management
L.H. Vogel, PhD LH Vogel Consulting, LLC, 371 Beveridge Road, Ridgewood, NJ 07450, USA e-mail: [email protected]
tools to make appropriate decisions. At the same time, they need to care for patients and manage and run the enterprise; they also need to document and communicate plans and activities, and to meet the requirements of numerous regulatory and accrediting organizations. Clinicians assess patient status, plan patient care, administer appropriate treatments, and educate patients and families regarding clinical management of various conditions. They are also concerned about evaluating the clinical outcomes, quality, and increasingly, the cost of health services provided. Administrators determine appropriate staffing levels, manage inventories of drugs and supplies, and negotiate payment contracts for services. Governing boards make decisions about whether to invest in new business lines, how to partner with other organizations, and how to eliminate underutilized services. Collectively, health care professionals comprise a heterogeneous group with diverse objectives and information requirements. The purpose of health care information systems (HCISs) is to support the access and management of the information that health professionals need in order to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. HCISs facilitate communication, integrate information, and coordinate action among multiple health care professionals. This chapter is adapted from an earlier version in the third edition authored by Lynn Harold Vogel and Leslie E. Perreault.
E.H. Shortliffe, J.J. Cimino (eds.), Biomedical Informatics, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4474-8_14, © Springer-Verlag London 2014
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In addition, they assist in the organization and storage of data, and they support certain recordkeeping and reporting functions. Many of the clinical information functions of an HCIS were detailed in our discussion of the computer-based patient record (CPR) in Chap. 12; systems to support nurses and other care providers are discussed in Chap. 15.
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