Everything about Health Information System

Health information systems used to make crucial decisions by healthcare professionals to save lives and improve patient care. To give more idea about Healthcare information system the following post emphasizes what a health information system is and how it is beneficial in the health space. 

1. What is a Health Information Systems?

Health information system(HIS) mainly refers to a system designed to manage healthcare data. Right from collecting to storing, managing, and transmitting a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), these systems cover it all! Plus, they also support policy making. 

 All these integrated efforts are made to improve the end results and create a win-win situation for all patients as well as healthcare professionals. 

Besides, since health information systems comprise large volumes of sensitive data and can be accessed by anybody, it possesses high-end risk.  

2. Do You Know How Well Functioning Information Systems Should Look Like?

  • It must have the ability to generate and compile information. Now from where this information can be compiled from? It can be from service delivery points. Though the pickup destination is fixed the drop destination can be anything ranging from district-level routine information systems to hospital patient administration systems, disease surveillance systems, etc. 
  • An information system must be able to detect events for security purposes. Healthcare information systems should be able to analyze, synthesize, and communicate information 

3. Benefits of Healthcare Information Systems

Lets dig more deeper into the benefits of the Health Information system.

3.1 Easy Access

Having a well-implemented health system, the data of the patient is readily available. All it takes is the matter of a few clicks and one gets to know everything. In case, if the usual treating doctor is absent and some other professional needs to go through the test reports again?  Now all they have to do is log in to the HIS and they can have instant access to the patient’s medical history and current scenario.

3.2 Enhanced Performance Analysis

Using these health systems enables a wide range of benefits for example not just your patient’s health is well-taken care of but even your staff like health care providers, professionals involved  gains points in regards to productivity. Not to mention that all these aspects can be tracked easily. The best part here is patients do have the privilege to submit feedback without being biased. 

Health systems also turn out a blessing to the environment, with less use of paper. Since everything is computerized and automated, there is the least chance of any manual error taking place. 

3.3 Reduce Operational Costs

Health systems enable organizations to allocate resources very effectively. With the help of HIS you can manage your resources in an optimized approach. You will have a good idea about which resource is available and occupied.  In addition to this, these health systems also enable better data management and effective administration of supplies.

3.4 Better Patient Care

HIS is enabling you to manage everything in a planner manner which will ultimately give satisfaction to patients. Patients start trusting you and your services and slowly they will become a word of mouth for you. In the healthcare industry, caring for your patients is an ultimate goal and with properly implemented HIS will help you to reach the goal.    In the end, it’s not just any business, the healthcare industry is one that is also known for adding value. 

3.5 Improved Patient Safety

Health information systems facilitate the storage and dissemination of medical records, hence enhancing patient security. When there are problems with a patient’s health, you can receive warning alerts as well. By way of illustration, healthcare practitioners may get a warning from the program’s security checking about the potential for adverse consequences from a patient’s unprescribed use of a certain medication. In this approach, you won’t have to worry about making any catastrophic errors owing to insufficient information.

3.6 Circumvention of Medical Errors

You can expect error-free reports and data from Health Information Systems since they eliminate the need for paper records and manual data entry. There will be less room for pharmaceutical mistakes, and patients will be safer as a consequence.

3.7 Minimized Operational Expense

Technology for Tracking Health Records Let health organizations to use resources strategically, so potentially reducing costs significantly in areas such as energy consumption and the need for replacement equipment and supplies. Briefly said, you can improve patient care while cutting costs significantly.

3.8 Improved Patient Satisfaction

Health information systems (HIS) not only make doctors’ and administrators’ lives easier by streamlining administrative tasks, but also boost patient happiness. Patients will be loyal to your business if they know they can always count on you to provide excellent care.

After reviewing the advantages of HIS, it’s evident that HIS provides healthcare professionals with several chances to improve patient care while also reducing expenses and streamlining processes. Examples of Health Information System(HIS)

4. Examples of Health Information System(HIS)

4.1 EMR and EHR

EMR and EHR

The two terms can be interchangeable, EMR in simple words replaces the paper version of a patient’s health history. Ranging from health data, test results, and treatments, the EMR systems cover it all in the health space. 

A patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) is their permanent record within the clinic’s IT infrastructure. Regular users include hospitalists, family doctors, and experts.

Having a medical record, or a file of documentation, on hand in a doctor’s office is standard practice, and most patients are aware of this. The patient’s entire medical history from that clinic is documented here, including all of their diagnoses, test findings, and treatments.

The EMR is a computerized replacement for the traditional paper medical chart. Even yet, electronic medical records (EMRs) provide certain benefits over traditional records.

  • Electronic medical records allow doctors to keep better tabs on patient records throughout time.
  • Data processing tasks can be digitally automated thanks to EMRs. An electronic medical record system (EMR) may notify doctors, for instance, that a patient has to come in for a checkup or preventative screening.
  • With EMR data, doctors may see how their patients are performing according to predetermined benchmarks like blood pressure, immunization records, and so on.

These records may need to be printed before they can be shared with other healthcare professionals, while an EHR is a digital record that includes all the information an EMR does and more.

A patient’s electronic health record (EHR) can include a wide variety of details about their medical history, such as:

  • Medical appointments with specialists.
  • Data about medical coverage.
  • Healthcare facility documentation and more.

Electronic health records (EHR) were developed to standardize patient information across remote medical professionals.

4.2 Practice Management Software (PMS) 

Another finest example in the health systems is practice management software. As the name implies, this one not just manages the day-to-day operations such as scheduling and billing but also ends up automating several administrative tasks.  

4.3 Master Patient Index

The Master Patient Index (MPI) is an electronic record that assigns individuals a unique identifier depending on their geographic location, enabling cross-references between medical facilities and networks, including hospitals, doctors, laboratories, and radiology clinics.

Several big medical facilities utilize this to store patient information. After being archived, the information can be accessed by any affiliated hospital or medical center. This MPI generates a searchable index of a patient’s medical history that may be accessed by any department.

To prevent inaccurate information from leading to unequal treatment, MPI aims to minimize patient record duplication. Healthcare data may be transferred more conveniently and at a lower cost if patient information is stored within the program.

A patient’s healthcare needs during pregnancy, for instance, range from those of a general practitioner to those of an obstetrician, midwife, and laboratory technician.

4.4 Patient Portals

A patient portal is a web page which enables a patient to view their own health records, such as their treatment history, current medications, and any upcoming appointments.

A patient portal is often available around the clock, seven days a week, and may be accessed from any internet-enabled device, such as a smartphone, desktop computer, laptop computer, or tablet.

Appointments can be made and direct communication with the healthcare staff is also possible with a patient portal.

4.5 Clinical Decision Support  

CDS for short, clinical decision support analyzes data from different clinical and administrative software to assist health providers to make clinical decisions. 

4.6 Remote Patient Monitoring

Remote Patient Monitoring

Modern technologies like augmented reality are being considered by the healthcare industry to make the procedure more transparent. In the business sphere, AR has carved out a distinct niche for itself and is already influencing fundamental shifts in how work is done.

Several of the cutting-edge options are designed to be used in the workplace, giving professionals a way to improve the strategy they develop and employ every day.

Chronic illness costs can be lowered and post-discharge care can be improved with the use of remote patient monitoring. An individual’s blood sugar or blood pressure can be tracked remotely. As a consequence, medical treatment is enhanced.

Interest in augmented reality (AR) has grown over time as pioneers investigate the technology’s economic value and speculate on AR’s potential impact on the customer service industry and other sectors where it may improve productivity, such as healthcare.

There is great hope that this emerging technology will revolutionize healthcare delivery.

5. Crucial Data on the Components of Health Information System

5.1 Patient Portal Services

Patient portal is quite a crucial feature in software or solutions as it is quite similar to electronic health records but the differentiating aspect here is that these patients are capable of having secure online access.  All they need is a smart device to check their records, book a doctor’s appointment, and process payments online.

5.2 Health Billing Applications

This feature, in particular, manages all kinds of billing tasks in the least amount of time than usual. There was a  time when hospitals used to spend time managing appointments, insurance, monitoring patients’ billings but tables have turned now. With this billing feature, everything can be handled accurately.

5.3 Remote Patient Monitoring Services

Another promising feature, we all should be looking forward to is remote patient monitoring. This one does a great job at delivering good health care to the patients.  If you are someone who is suffering from chronic health issues, no big deal because Remote patient monitoring is here to our rescue.

6. Conclusion – Choose the Right Health Catalyst

As seen in this blog, healthcare information systems are clearly the present and the future of the healthcare service. These systems help healthcare centers bring the revolution in the way they serve their patients. They offer robust medical procedures, increase the efficiency of the medical professionals, and make the entire healthcare system organized. This proves that healthcare information systems are a win-win for both the healthcare service providers and the patients.  

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Itesh Sharma

Itesh Sharma is core member of Sales Department at TatvaSoft. He has got more than 6 years of experience in handling the task related to Customer Management and Project Management. Apart from his profession he also has keen interest in sharing the insight on different methodologies of software development.

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