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A vast industry now exists to help you manage information overload. Unfortunately, that industry tends to overwhelm with information about itself. We asked technology writer Pete Wenzlick to sort out the real from the phony at the nation's biggest health info-tech expo. Here is his report.
This paper discusses the roles and functions of strategic planning of information systems in health services. It selects four specialised methodologies of strategic planning for analysis with respect to their applicability in the health field. It then examines the utilisation of information planning in case studies of three health organisations (two State departments of health and community services and one acute care institution). Issues arising from the analysis concern the planning process, the use to which plans are put, and implications for management.
Considerations of totally electronic picture archiving system (PACS) often neglect the fact that every radiology practice currently has some system for storing and retrieving images and related alphanumeric data. Although these systems are usually manual, many departments now use on-line computers to help manage film flow. In either event, the creation of electronic PACS can be viewed as a classic data processing problem of automating an existing system, and the conversion should proceed through the usual steps of documenting the existing system in detail, and conducting feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses. Documenting current systems should be facilitated by computer-assisted PACS--particularly documenting transaction volumes which can be provided as a by-product of radiology information management systems. Similarly cost-benefit analysis should be facilitated, although the cost/benefit ratio may be less favorable when comparing automated to computer-assisted PACS. Finally, information management features such as those provided by current on-line radiology systems provide a framework necessary to realize the full benefits of automated PACS.
A new hospital director seeking to bring his institution to the brink of solvency found himself with ten pounds of data but no "information"--at least, not the kind of information he could use as a basis for management decisions. What he needed was a system that would not only present data, but the meaning of the data. Such a system is the integrated MIS.
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Materials management information systems (MMISs) incorporate information tools that hospitals can use to automate certain business processes, increase staff compliance with these processes, and identify opportunities for cost savings. Recently, there has been a push by hospital administration to purchase enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, information systems that promise to integrate many more facets of healthcare business. We offer this article to help materials managers, administrators, and others involved with information system selection understand the changes that have taken place in materials management information systems, decide whether they need a new system and, if so, whether a stand-alone MMIS or an ERP system will be the best choice.
An automatic order entry system is very important for the processing of out-patient information, not only helping doctors to enter their orders directly but also reducing errors of communication. Many hospitals are anxious to set up a direct order entry system but are concerned about possible system failures. In this paper we report on an effective and efficient fault-tolerant order entry management system which satisfies the requirements for out-patient order entry. From the results of experiments on a prototype we found that the system was user friendly and reduced the time taken. Doctors are able to enter their orders more easily, accurately and quickly by selecting from the standardized and personalized menus to be found in the system.
Many advances have been made in laboratory automation dealing with robotics and data management. There have been many different approaches to these technologies and many successful applications. Current methods employed in automated techniques utilize robotic processors and arms to manipulate and analyze samples, and computerized management of the data generated by these workhorses.
Examines how computers and quality assurance are being used to improve the quality of health care delivery. Traditional quality assurance methods have been limited in their ability to effectively manage the high volume of data generated by the health care process. Computers on the other hand are able to handle large volumes of data as well as monitor patient care activities in both the acute care and ambulatory care settings. Discusses the use of computers to collect and analyse patient data so that changes and problems can be identified. In addition, computer models for reminding physicians to order appropriate preventive health measures for their patients are presented. Concludes that the use of computers to augment quality improvement is essential if the quality of patient care and health promotion are to be improved.
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Faced with rising costs, growing demand and declining funding, hospitals and others must either cut services or improve the efficiency and effectiveness of what they do. Neither solution can be implemented without adequate relevant information. Without understanding which services are providing the most value to its customers, sensible cutbacks will be difficult to make. Improving efficiency requires a knowledge of where there are inefficiencies, and improving effectiveness requires an understanding of what the outcomes of health care are. The solution, as many have documented, is to create, as a first step, a database containing detailed health care patient data. In this paper, we present continuous improvement techniques as a requirement for the design and development of this much needed database.
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