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Health Information Technology (HIT)

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Introduction Health information technology (HIT), also known as eHealth or health informatics, is defined as the use of technology to efficiently store, exchange, and retain information in healthcare in order to improve healthcare delivery, decrease financial costs and burdens on the healthcare system, and improve patient outcomes (Shekelle et al., 2006). HIT from a consumer perspective is meant to meet the growing demand for an increase in patient autonomy and control over one’s own health (Eysenbach & Diepgen, 2001). Certain HITs have been developed and utilized to increase the efficiency of the storage and exchange of patient medical data and to facilitate effective communication and sharing of information between a patient and their provider …show more content…

Prominent examples, in order from most ‘face-to-face’ to entirely web-based, consist of: internet health information-seeking (i.e., “paging Dr. Google”), electronic health records (EHRs), electronic communication (e.g., emails and instant messaging), and web-based medical care (e.g., ‘virtual care’). The use of these HITs greatly impact the patient-provider relationship. In theory, the impact is positive, as their purpose is to facilitate more quality communication and encourage the patient’s more active role in their own care. However, the traditional, ‘authoritative’, physician-centered model of the patient-provider relationship frequently dominates over the twenty-first century ‘shift’ to patient-centered care and creates barriers on the clinician level to using HIT effectively (Eysenbach & Jadad, 2001). As a result, the intended application of HIT as a tool for increased patient autonomy is hindered and undermines the movement of patient-centered care that the development and promotion of HITs is meant to bolster. This paper will describe patient and provider perceptions of HITs, as well as demonstrate how both the use of HITs and the nature of the patient-provider relationship are reciprocal and factors relating to both influence the other both positively …show more content…

Patient involvement or engagement is complex and multifaceted, defined by a behavioural dimension (what the patient does to cope with the disease and treatments), a cognitive dimension (the patient’s knowledge and understanding about the disease and its treatments), and an emotional dimension (the patient’s psychological and emotional reactions to the disease and adjusting to it) (Barello et al., 2016). Snyder and Engström (2015)’s narrative review synthesized factors of patient involvement: factors exclusive to patients consist of shared decision-making (participating in the decision-making process of their own care), empowerment (being in control of their illness and their coping ability), and patient education (learning about their own disease). These factors improve treatment adherence, psychosocial outcomes such as decreased pain in chronic pain patients, and the practice of health behaviours. However, patient engagement is not an ‘on-off’ switch, as Graffigna & Barello (2016) demonstrate with their Patient Health Engagement (PHE) Model. They describe four phases that patients go through in the process of becoming engaged in their own healthcare: blackout (the patient experiences great distress in the onset of a newfound health

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