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Technology in the Perinatal Care Setting

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Technology in the Perinatal Care Setting

Health information system (HIT) plays an important role in the healthcare delivery system. Be as it may, leaders working in the healthcare system strongly support that information technology is the best strategy to promote patient safety. In the perinatal care, nurses apply the use of information technology in keeping health records, decision support systems, as well as medication safety devices that help in guiding service provisions.

The healthcare system is often complex and fragmented. There exist quite a large number of healthcare provides, a lot of models used to document and store information as well as different players involved in the system. As a result, it may lead to errors in patient care, miscommunication, increased cost as well as duplicative test. Therefore, the use of technology can help to tackle these problems effectively and efficiently (In Vlad & In Ciupa, 2014). For instance, electronic health records (EHR) can help in keeping information about patients in the perinatal care.

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Technology helps to facilitate interoperability in the perinatal care setting. Interoperability refers to the ability of a system to function as well as interact with another system within a specific background without any access or implementation barriers (IGI Global & IRMA, 2015). This is very important in the perinatal care settings, especially in the obstetric environment. The reason is that patient often changes venues for the care she progresses right from conception, pregnancy period, intrapartum, and postpartum.

Therefore, by use of health information systems enable interoperability between admission, discharge, transfer, pharmacy, critical care, laboratory, and the emergency room. Greater efficiency in accessibility of patient data: Use of technology allows faster transfer of medical history in a medical emergency when the patient changes the venue, healthcare center or even the doctor.

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Use of technology such as health information system increases work efficiency: With the ease of access to information about patients and the use of technology in the provision of perinatal care, nurses can focus on providing patient care. Nurses are also able to serve patients faster and thus improve work efficiency.

Use of health information technology also enables healthcare practitioners to have an all inclusive and up-to-date medical history. Health information technology (HIT) keeps three sets of records. These records can be grouped into, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), Personal Health Records (PHRs), and Electronic Health Records (EHRs) which are essential for the overall health care of a patient.

Electronic Health Records are essential and can be shared with a different medical institution so as to give accurate, complete historical medical information of the client (Thomas-Brogan, 2009).

However, use of technology in the perinatal care setting has its disadvantages. First of all, it is quite expensive to acquire sophisticated health technology. This is challenging in the healthcare and organization should consider if the cost of high technology is economically viable.

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Secondly, technology in the healthcare settings requires time to adapt. This is because technology is a dynamic concept and keeps on evolving. Therefore, many at times there will be the invention of new hardware’s, software’s, upgrades and the way of doing things in the healthcare setting. Thus, the best strategy is that the hospital staff should keep abreast with such changes in technology.

Similarly, overdependence on technology may be a problem. This is because computer systems may face technical error. Such an error is crucial in an emergency setting and may result in loss of life. Therefore, Healthcare providers should keep a backup of all the information kept in the Health Information System for Emergency retrieval of data.

Finally, use of technology raises ethical and legal issues. Be as it may, patient health information should always be kept confidential. However, use of computer systems may result in unethical behaviors. For instance, people may hack health care system networks and retrieve important information concerning patient’s health information and medical health history. Therefore, it is essential to develop security measures to safeguard such information from being accessed by authorized users. This can be achieved by using different user level passwords.

References

In Vlad, S., & In Ciupa, R. V. (2014). International Conference on Advancements of Medicine and Health Care through Technology: 5th-7th June 2014, Cluj-Napoca, Romania : MEDITECH 2014.

IGI Global,, & In Information Resources Management Association, IRMA,. (2015). Healthcare administration: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications.

Thomas-Brogan, T. (2009). Health information technology basics: A concise guide to principles and practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett.

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System Downtime

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System Downtime

According to LaTour & Maki (2010) downtime is a period of time when there is a failure of the system to perform or provide its primary function. Downtime may either be planned or unplanned during which the proper functioning of the system is compromised or it is unavailable to user, and this is often caused by either environmental factors, computer system failure, network failure, software failure, interface failure, and/or routine scheduled upgrades or maintenance.

According to the staff working at the hospital i.e. KKUH, downtime occurrence with regards to HIMS does not take place often at the hospital. For example, the last time a downtime was experienced at the hospital was two months ago and it only lasted for about a half an hour at the emergency department only. The eSIHI was implemented recently meaning it is still new for all staff at KKUH.

On the other hand, apart from unplanned downtime it is possible for a downtime to be planned or scheduled, that is, a period during which through a deliberate or intentional alterations or modifications the health information system is unavailable to users or is not able to function properly. During planned downtime, the system may not be affected as a whole or in totality, meaning some functions may still perform properly or the system may still be available to some users. The purpose of planned or scheduled downtime is mainly scheduled maintenance, system upgrades and updates.

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During a down-time whether unplanned or planned, the admission procedures at the Emergency Department changes to ensure health care services continue. At the Ambulatory and Emergency Department, during a period of downtime the officer responsible for all kinds of documentation is the physician in-charge and ensures instant scanning of the documents.

Unit clerk/nurse is responsible of providing all necessary forms during downtime, and ensures that the scanned instantly and uploading of the documents is done when the system recovers. Down Time Support Team has the responsibility of uploading documents that were scanned during a downtime and entering of orders in eSIHI upon the recovery of the system, usually before that day ends.

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Admission officers at the Emergency Department should be aware of the appropriate procedures during a downtime because the office of Admission is responsible of registration of all patients for admission (Moore & Fisher, 2012). The standard admission procedures are as follows:

For new admissions, during a down-time a manual ADMISSION face sheet is completed by admission officers for each admitted patient.
The patient is then sent to the appropriate unit for further emergency care because Emergency Department cannot offer such care for long especially when it is intensive.
The patient is accompanied by the following documents: 1) the manual ADMISSION face sheet; 2) patient labels as well as armbands; 3) patient admission orders (when they are available).
In the absence of the patient admitting orders, the Nurse or any other designated person who is appropriate calls the Admitting orders from the admitting physician.
If the Admission orders arise from the nursing unit, especially in case of a newborn the Admission desk is called by the nursing unit for their notification about the new admission.
The Admission unit clerks/officers/designee uses a downtime packet to establish a patient’s chart, and each page must be labeled with the name of the patient, FIN NUMBERS or medical record number, room and bed of the admitted patient as well as the name of the admitting physician.
Discharges should be limited as much as possible during downtime due to the increased potential for errors, but when necessary to discharge the Admission desk is called by the discharging unit for their notification about the discharge. The manual discharging documents during downtime are added to the chart of the patient and maintained on the nursing unit where the patient was admitted until the system recovers when the documents are uploaded.

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Documentation by Admission officers during a downtime should ensure that: 1) all forms filled during downtime are labeled accordingly using two identifiers for the patient (at minimum the date of birth and name); 2) the downtime forms are always required to have a date, time, and signature; 3) on top of each medication order, the nurse must indicate “Allergy”; 4) the filling of all paper forms is done as part of the medical record for the patient.

References

LaTour, K. M., & Maki, S. E. (2010). Health information management concepts, principles, and practice. Chicago, Illinois: American Health Information Management Association.

Moore, A., & Fisher, K. (2012). Healthcare Information Technology and Medical-Surgical Nurse: The Emergence of a New Care Partnership. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 30(3), 157-163.

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The Impact of Health Information System to Patients

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The Impact of Health Information System to Patients

The emergence of computers has had enormous impact not just on the delivery of healthcare but quality as well. Health information systems for instance, plays a critical role in terms of storing and disseminating data for patients in most healthcare facilities. With the adoption and application of new methods of information technology in almost all sectors globally including the healthcare industry, it can never be disputed that the healthcare industry is in constant evolution.

The industry development has been associated with tools, used by healthcare professionals to provide quality services to the patient. Regardless of the ubiquitous use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, the issue of safety and privacy remains a major challenge (Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). The paper evaluates the privacy and security concerns of the Health Information Systems.

According to John (2006), there has been a wide range of attackers believed to exist in any online format. The attackers have the potential of hacking and accessing into online systems such as the EHR. This creates a security hole and a compromising situation when it comes to ensuring the safety of patient data. Every person has a right to privacy, including patients whose medical records may be storing sensitive information, especially for psychiatric patients, who seek to conceal private information about their health.

Though the cases do not happen more frequently, the incidences may create some doubts in terms of people’s privacy and critical information getting in wrong hands (AHIMA, 2013). The accessibility of confidential information by a hacker may have devastating effects. Medical records can be vandalized by a malicious person, harboring wicked motives, an aspect that may adversely compromise the safety of patients. Moreover, if the EHR is tampered with, it could also expose other personal data to the crook such as credit card details, the social security number, passport.

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According to HIPAA and WI-FI ACT, as encapsulated in the Electronic Human Rights Bill, the patient has a right to know about how their medical data is being used. Moreover, they have the legal basis to file a suite against any violations that comes with denying them access or malicious entry and snooping of their private information (Health Industry Insights, 2016).

Furthermore, research conducted by the Health Industry Insights Consumer Survey in the year 2005 revealed that there is also a concern for the security associated with the Health Information Systems. This is especially evident during the transfer of information from the paper work to electronic health records. Following this process of information transfer, chances of information mishandling is usually high. Nonetheless, EHR vendors are purely guided by the legal framework.

Again, a patient has the right to seek for rectification of any typographical mistakes or invalid information being recorded. Markle Foundation (2014) argued that this right is justified in the act of HIPAA and WI-FI under the Bill of Electronic Human Rights. Additionally, a patient is also entitled to receive an immediate notification when the attacker gets access to his or her medical information.

In conclusion, health information and privacy is imperative to both the patients and the healthy physicians. While the medical personnel should use personal Health Records, to enhance the quality of care, the issue of security and safety remains an issue requiring a rethink. The study established that EHR systems are effective and easily accessible, however, the element of EHR falling in the wrong hands is a warring trend. To protect the privacy of personal data, the legal framework as guided by HIPAA and WI-FI ACT should be applied to the fullest to deter malicious entry.

References

AHIMA (2013) e-HIM Personal Health Record Work Group. “The Role of the Personal Health Record in the EHR.” Journal of AHIMA 76, no. 7 (July–August 2005): 64A–D. Department of Health and Human Services 2006) “American Health Information Community Workgroups: Consumer Empowerment Workgroup.” Retrieved on 18^th, March, 2016 from <http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic/ce_main.html>.

Health Industry Insights (2016). “Health Industry Insights Consumer Survey.” Retrieved on 18^th, march, 2016 from <http://www.idc.com/downloads/HIIConsumersurveyePHRs_Q&A.pdf >.

John, S, (2006). “Testimony before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Ways and Means, April 6, 2006.” Retrieved on 18^th, march, 2016 from <http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=view&id=4829>

Markle Foundation (2014). “Attitudes of Americans Regarding Personal Health Records and Nationwide Electronic Health Information Exchange.” Retrieved on 18^th, march, 2016 from <http://www.markle.org/downloadable_assets/research_release_101105.pdf >.

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