Health Informatics: Linking the Dots of Medicine and Data

 

As the boundaries between various health sectors and professions become increasingly unclear, and as health care grows more complex, the ability to effectively communicate about patient care has also become paramount. Health care greatly relies on information and data for every aspect of its delivery. However, a large number of health care institutions and clinicians in various corners of the world are unable to or ineffectively communicate across different locations. Healthinformatics is a rescue technology that combines medicine and healthcare with information technology and computer science to enhance health care standards. Simply put, health informatics has the ability to reduce errors, duplication, costs, and wastes in all facets of health care.

Issues in healthcare management

Managing health information requires planning and decision making, both inside and outside of technology. The following are the key issues in health care information management:

· Infrastructure and standards

· Ensuring security and privacy of data

· Systems and application integration and interoperability

· Identification of practitioners and consumers

· Provision of quality data in a timely manner for use in clinical planning, decision making, research, and policy.

Health informatics addresses all these loop holes and paves way for effective health care delivery and patient satisfaction.

Health care information systems

The health care information systems work on the principle of systems development. Systems development consists of five major elements including analysis, planning, design, implementation, and support. Defining in a basic level, it is the combination of software, hardware, processes, data, and people to form an information network.

Electronic data storage

Today, electronic health records are replacing bulging volumes of papers. Electronic data promises the benefits of information sharing and enables data to be automatically displayed and processed. When informatics is applied to medicine, the impact it can bring about is extremely realistic and highly efficient.

Health information interchange

The information involved in health care delivery is intensive. The need to share data seamlessly across different geographical settings and electronic health records are two powerful aspects that are shaping the face of healthcare and the manner in which data is being collected. This enables health care providers to offer effective, efficient, and safer care to their patients. Health informatics solutions are developed to encompass the standards for health information management along with information technology and bring them together in a platform that is compatible with international standards. Health information also addresses different management issues and serves as an answer to various challenges.