Mhi case 5

Posted: September 9th, 2013

Mhi case 5

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Mhi case 5

Information technology is crucial to achieve substantial improvement in the delivery of quality care in healthcare organizations. Computers and laptops are the most commonly used information technology system in healthcare today. Computers are used to store data and information about patients, doctors and the hospital. With computers and the internet, customers can analyze the performance of the hospital and their doctor’s credentials. Laptops are convenient as doctors can carry their work wherever they go. Mobile technology is slowly gaining popularity among healthcare organizations. Some healthcare professionals are buying and developing personal digital assistants with associated medical applications (Schou, 2001). This trend of using mobile phones is expected to witness more than one billion healthcare professionals and organizations subscribe to improve computing infrastructure.

Computers would provide the most immediate and substantial benefits to the committee. By using computers, the center would stop storing and distributing information on papers. Computers come equipped with built-in memories to store massive amounts of data. Patient records, clinical information, physician order and lab results would all be stored in computers and access granted to trusted individuals (Zieliński, Duplaga, & Ingram, 2006). The center could also develop a website for advertisement purposes. Websites are considered the fastest way to convey information to a large number of people all over the world. The center could provide information about its services and rates in the website, which could increase their patient numbers. Communication with patients is important in any healthcare organization. This can be done through email and phone conversations. Email can also be used for billing and scheduling purposes.

The organization of the committee would immensely benefit from computers, as they would store and access valuable information about the hospital, patients and staff. Computers would also prevent the committee from going through all the paper work in the organization. Websites would help in advertising their work. The committee would use websites to post and access hospital information from the comforts of their homes and offices. The organization of the committee would benefit by having all the information in one database. Through email and phone conversations, the organization would keep track of all information about patients and hospital staff. Email and phone enhance communication between the hospital staff and their patients. The human resources and information technology departments would be involved in implementing the use of computers.

Potential risks associated with using computers include access to patient information by not only doctors but also other healthcare providers. This means there is concern about the privacy of information stored in the computers. Access to patient information could lead to medical identity theft and allow impersonators to bill for medical services in your name. Websites can also be hacked into, and valuable information breached or blocked. There may be cases of misrepresentation in healthcare websites. Emails can also be accessed by unscrupulous people and this could lead to loss of vital information (Lazakidou, 2010). Recurrent power outages in the organization may lead to loss of information from the computers.

Successful implementation of the systems might be difficult if there is no funding to buy the required equipment. This is because most hospitals prefer to buy medicine and other supplies than invest in information technology given by its cost. Installing computers, websites and email in the system would require training for the staff of the hospital, which might not be possible especially if the staff does not cooperate with the committee. The committee might also be an impediment to implementation of the information systems if they do not find the systems effective or efficient.

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