Information Technology in the Health Care Industry

The healthcare industry consists of many strengths and weaknesses during the improvement of patient safety, efficient operations, reduction of medical errors, and ensuring that they provide timely access to all patient information. This will have to still comply with all legal guidelines as they control costs and protect patient privacy. The adoption of advanced information technology is a popular strategy being used in the healthcare industry because it allows their weaknesses to be progressively diminished as they gain and use the opportunities necessary as an analytical tool. This would allow their capabilities to be further developed with the new technologies and processes used as they unify the adoption of IT standards. In order to stay competitive within the healthcare industry, then there must be specific actions and measures that must be taken to ensure a positive outcome. This includes external opportunities to increase the capability of the IT infrastructure in a national environment as the growth of industry standards are met in order to decrease the pressured threats of legal compliance through patient trust and the high cost of IT. The growing recognition of strategic leadership often leads to both improved financial stability and contact accessibility of the system. Some challenges that may occur within the healthcare system may cause issues in a hospital setting because of the centralized society of an organization. This is because of the different visions and

Healthcare and health information technology (health IT) are undergoing transformative change at an unprecedented pace. Strategic planning has become a major discussion point among CIOs, CTOs, CMIOs, and IT Directors. Whether it is implementing enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR) systems, working toward compliance with the “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program, enabling patients’ involvement through PHRs, transitioning to ICD-10, establishing insurance exchanges, becoming an accountable care organization, or even deploying a medical home, healthcare executives are confronted with a confluence of high-priority initiatives.

In 2009, the U.S. Government passed The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (Mangalmurti, Murtagh and Mello 2060). The HITECH Act authorizes grants and incentives to promote the “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR) by providers (2060). The effect is a high commitment to a technology-led system reform, urging a renewed national commitment to building an information infrastructure to support health care delivery, consumer health, quality measurement and improvement, public accountability, clinical and health services research, and clinical

Two organizations migrating to a common health information system would need a system that meets current regulatory requirements, meets the needs of the combined organization and their practice environment. The implementation of a common health information system would require an interdisciplinary group of forward thinking innovators, and an interoperable electronic medical record system that includes standard nursing terminology.

Healthcare information technology forms a pivotal part of today 's healthcare system. Improved quality of healthcare, patient safety, drastic reduction in medical errors and enhancement of care delivery is possible because of the induction of these solutions in the healthcare delivery environment. Today, healthcare IT solutions are enabling processes like planning, decision-making related to organizational development, strategic planning to drive growth, recruitment of competent personnel, managing employee benefits, payroll, intra-department communication, etc.

Background: The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) identified five goals for adopting health information technology (HIT) into the current health care systems that would significantly improve healthcare in America. (Abdelhak, Grostick, & Hanken, 2012, p. 82) These goals will help improve the quality of care within the federal health system by reducing medical errors, cost, and duplication of workload.

Advances in modern technology surrounds us in our day to day lives, allowing conveniences and efficiency at our fingertips. Great strides have been made over the years with technology, and the healthcare industry along with many other industries have adopted this new way of functioning; electronically. The effects of technology have come to the forefront in where our government has acknowledged the benefits and opportunities. “The promise of Health Information Technology for improving quality and safety of health care while reducing costs has caught the eye of policy makers and other leaders in health care” (Hersh, 2006). It deeply affects how we connect, interact, and communicate internally and externally, but also gives us a sense of control on how we engage ourselves to the innovative software and systems.

It has only been within the last five years that health information management (HIM) has experienced exponential changes, due to the healthcare reform. The electronic health record (EHR) is connected to health information exchanges and other systems of interoperability. The timely completion of charts, coding and release of information (ROI) has become much more efficient with the electronic record. Traditional HIM functions will just be transformed and will always be an integral part of successful patient care. Professionals must be flexible and willing to adapt and even generate change. As Health Information Technology continues to evolve, so will the roles

Containing ninety participants, 36% of the respondents were hospital CIOs and I.T. executives, 19% from integrated delivery systems headquarters, 19% from group practices, and 27% from other facilities. Survey results pertained to patient health records, electronic health record (EHR) certification, and other IT issues in healthcare. According to the survey, “81% of respondents said their I.T. budgets will grow, with the most common prediction being growth of 5% to 10%. Implementing electronic health records was the No. 1 software investment priority for the coming year for hospitals, integrated delivery systems and group practices alike.” (CIOs Predict Future Trends, n.d) Interestingly, despite the economy at the time showing signs of a recession, “the vast majority of health care organizations expect their information technology budgets to grow during the next fiscal year, and this growth is driven primarily by a need to improve access to information for clinicians, the survey shows.” (CIOs Predict Future Trends, n.d) This improved access to information can be applied to patients as well, as the push towards cloud storage and record/test results access alleviates the need to wait, call, and require record searches from the physician’s staff. On the subject of streamlining access to the implementation to patient EHRs, 19% of

A significant, impactful trend on healthcare organizations (HCOs) is the implementation of technology-based information systems (IS). The systems consist of hardware and software used in gathering and processing data that supports the provision of patient care. There are administrative systems, which have been in place for decades and their usefulness are highly recognized. They track services rendered, billing processes used for third party payers and patients, as well as payroll for employees. Administrative systems are essential for the financial component of a business. More recently, the importance of clinical information systems has moved into the spotlight. They are intended to

The acquisition of an information technology (IT) system by a healthcare organization must incorporate several different concerns. Generally, there is a process by which the organization determines what functions and capabilities are essential for the new IT system to provide. Much of that concern is dictated by specific goals of the organization, its mission, and the operational elements of the organization. Most importantly, the organization must consider the varied interests and needs of all of its stakeholders in relation to the new IT system.

With the rapid growth in technology, many healthcare organizations have embraced the use of healthcare information technologies. As such, the information technology department has various staffs that perform fundamental roles in the information technology-related activities. It ranges from activities of customizing a software to implementing and maintaining a network to ensure effective system backups. In addition, these healthcare information technologies bring about other

Information and communication technology has been adopted and implemented within various sectors of the economy. This is attributed to the benefits of technology in facilitating organizational activities and processes and its use in meeting the changes which characterize the modern society. The health sector is one of the industries which have significantly implemented technology. The health sector’s technological applications have been achieved within health information systems. The implementation of technology in this sector has resulted into both positive and negative implications on health

The variation in information needs across any healthcare provider organization forces healthcare information technologies (HIT) platforms, systems, processes and procedures to align its design to support the unique information needs of each department and role. The greater this alignment of HIT systems and technologies to specific administrator, doctor, nurse and lab technician roles, the higher the level of overall systems performance and results attained (Agrawal, Grandison, Johnson, Kiernan, 2007). Just as an enterprise has strategic information needs that help to define the future direction of the business, healthcare provider organizations also have a comparable set of strategic information needs. The administrative roles in healthcare providers need to have a consolidated view of the organization from a cost, quality management, service level, patient recovery rate, patient satisfaction and profitability standpoint as well (Middleton, 2005). All of these factors are often gathered together in a dashboard that administrators often rely on to manage the core areas of their healthcare business (Leung, 2012). Administrator's information needs are also longer term in nature and more oriented towards the development of strategic initiatives that will last several years, requiring

The successful implementation and subsequent meaningful use of information technology solutions within a health care organization is a challenging and iterative process. The organization must engage in careful and ongoing strategic and tactical planning to ensure that the implemented technology will ultimately be effective and beneficial for its practitioners, staff, and patients.