Implications of Health Information
Posted by admin in Health Information on April 27, 2011
By Ed Raine
The health information system has gained a complexity that expands to several levels. What this article intends to tackle with concerns the series of the organizational &social implications which health informatics has upon external areas. Being an evolving field, health informatics requires technological development at multiple levels of abstraction &complexity. Hence, the issues of community-based health systems, virtual communities, &globalization are to be discussed within the range of this article.
The first aspect to be dealt with regards community-based health systems. This requires the conceiving of a community health information network which establishes the connection among healthcare stakeholders within a community or region. This integrated assemble of networking means ease not only the process of communication with patients, but also the exchange of clinical &financial information among multiple providers, employers, &related healthcare entities from a specific geographical area. An interactive research &communication tool, community-based health systems revolve around the implementation of a computerized patient record system at the level of a community or region.
Virtual communities constitute the second aspect related to the social implications of the health information system. They have the function of on-line support groups for both e-patients &e-caregivers. This concept of virtual communities is promoted as part of e-disease management programs developed by e-health companies. By means of them, consumers receive general information, data about medical research on specific diseases, &information regarding available products &services associated with these diseases. Psychological support is also provided by the patients that face the same condition. Virtual communities have at their core a virtual patient records database that functions on the basis of an integrated processing engine. This engine links the collection of patient-related information &expertise elements &delivers a unitary, well-classified &organized output under the form of a set of administrative &clinical information. This result can be retrieved, exchanged &disseminated by e-health providers for e-clinical decision making, e-control, analysis, e-diagnosis, e-treatment planning &evaluation.
The third social-organizational implication of a health information system resides in globalization. Within health informatics, this phenomenon implies viewing the world as a single community so that the virtual networks &e-health information services to be subordinated to the promotion of health &well-being. Globalization of e-healthcare requires effective use of resources at the individual, group, community, organizational &societal level. Many administrative &financial processes can be streamlined by e-health purchasers &providers by implementing global call centers &Internet-enabled transactional services. This way, a global exchange of data for scheduling, billing, shipping, ordering &purchasing healthcare products &services is promoted. Another benefit of the globalization of e-health system is that under-served urban, rural or remoter areas can receive high-quality services.