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Data and Data Analyiss
Information Management
Computerized Patient Record
Health Operations Research
Data Mining
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Management
Index - Child Subjects
Recommendations
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Information: "that which resolves uncertainty"
Introduction
Information Management is the main topic of
this paper and provides a list of information needs and uses of this information
that supports the organizational goals and objectives.
A health care organization is one of the most
complex endeavors that is highly dependent on information. Information
Management is an integral part of the organization which without, the
organization could not survive. Planning and designing the information
management system to meet internal and external information needs is the main
function of the Health Care Organization.
The goal of the information management function
is to support decision making to improve patient outcomes…assure patient
safety…improve performance.
Information Management is driven by providing
data to many different entities (Stake-Holders). The two principle entities are:
(1) Internal users of information and (2) External users of information. The
internal uses are administrators and health care professionals. The external
uses consists or Government Agencies, Interest Groups, Clients, Vendors
Each of this Stake Holders has different data
requirements, reporting formats, and Frequency of reporting. All stake holders
require understandable formats, use of standardization, and transparency of
methods.
Information is at the core of everything around us. Our existence is a
process of gathering, analyzing, understanding, and acting on the information.
Since our purposeful behavior depends on intelligent decision making, it is
clear that information is required not just to exist, but to survive (Berson
and Smith, 1997).
Today
in all areas of health care applications the attention is on the measurability
and comparability of results. Administrators have become more aware of the need
for information for policy formulation, implementation and monitoring (WHO
1996). Without sufficient and quality data, without effective and proper use of
data, and without properly trained personnel, this measurability and
comparability cannot be implemented. Where information is available in the
health care services, it is often geared only to the allocation of resources and
the control of spending, not the need to evaluate services and patients outcomes
(WHO 1996). Systems have not been developed to evaluate the quality of health
care.
“The evaluation…indicated that in many countries some information is
simply not available at central level because developments at local and
community levels, such as in the areas of lifestyles and health promotion, are
not always monitored centrally. Furthermore, it showed that international
comparability of health information still needs to be improved through greater
standardization of definitions and methods of data collection and processing
(WHO 1996).
As
health planning develops from a single purpose entity towards an integrated organization, information systems need to be developed so managers can have the
flexibility they need to make informed decisions. Community involvement needs to
be increased, and the central control of resources needs to give way to active
decentralization management. It is at the lowest level that the system interacts with its
clients and it is the best place to obtain information and use that information. It is believed that if
the proper information is collected at first level in an efficient and effective
manner, that information can be used by all other information seekers from the
lowest level up to the highest national and international level without the need
of any further processing.
Health Care Organizations, especially in developing countries, have shown
very little interest in information technology because of their lack of
knowledge of the perceived benefits, lack of political will, lack of funding for such
investments, lack of standards or slow adoption of standards where they do
exist, and the lack of skilled personnel to implement such systems....or the
fact that the employees are stealing so much money that they do not want a
system that can discover what they are doing!!!
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