Health Informatics is better known as medical informatics or biomedical informatics. It is an information engineering associated with healthcare and especially manages patient’s healthcare information. It deals with the devices, methods to utilize acquisition, storage, and retrieval in health and medicine.
Health Informatics uses information and communication systems and computer technology. The program covers the field of informatics, ethics, consumer health informatics, and homecare.
Let us delve deeper and understand what health informatics is and how it is providing benefits to the healthcare industry.
What Do You Understand by Health Informatics?
It is a discipline that uses information technology to analyze and organize health records to enhance healthcare outcomes. It provides electronic access for patients, insurance companies, healthcare professionals, and other health experts.
The master of science in Health Informatics is build to provide opportunities within the scope of medical informatics. It proves a flexible curriculum for traditional and nontraditional students. This field is growing fast, and several online and offline degree programs are available for everyone.
Health informatics discipline involves social science, management science, information science, and others. According to the National Library of Science, health informatics is “the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in health care services delivery, management, and planning."
Advantages of Health Informatics
It is a field where information from different fields is analyzed for further studies. It identifies current trends in the industry and can be used in different health conditions.
Furthermore, it improves the patient’s care process. It provides patient data and reduces errors at the time of the result.
Let’s check out a few advantages that health informatics provides to modern health care.
1. Reduces Errors and Costs
You won’t believe it, but medical errors cost a huge loss in the business. Every year, it takes around $140 billion to correct errors in the United States.
Thankfully, several technologies like
Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) and Computer Provider Order Entry Systems (CPOE) are solving medical errors and reducing error costs for multiple healthcare firms.
However, these important changes in healthcare require the assistance of the right people. Also, they should be knowledgeable enough to use technical skills and deliver high-quality patient care.
2. Improved Coordination
Over the years, the healthcare industry has changed a lot. Patients can keep track of their health status, and doctors can check the records of patients on their fingertips. Patients receive care simultaneously from multiple professionals in one stay.
Health informatics makes the coordination possible by involving healthcare professionals and patient care to record, share, and disseminate the records. It makes sure that nutrition, therapy, and discharge instructions interrelate or connect to avoid problems.
3. Efficiently Store Patient Records
Earlier, the majority of medical facilities used old methods to track patient records. Even today, several hospitals and other healthcare facilities use a paper-based system of data storage.
Whenever the patient comes to the hospital, it takes a long time for the information to become available to doctors. Even nurses take time to get the right file. When a patient comes with new conditions, it becomes difficult to update data and to share a platform for treatment.
With the changes in technology, the healthcare industry is booming and allowing healthcare experts to deliver better patient outcomes.
For instance, Electronic Health Records (EHR) manages the patient’s records and makes it easier. Medical professionals can now store data in convenient coded computer systems. Furthermore, the workload is reducing, and manual processing is reducing day by day. Using cloud software and other solutions, the data can be accessed from anywhere and anytime.
4. Patient Empowerment
Today, patients have electronic access to their health history. Also, keeping track of medications and symptoms have become easier. The systematic process allows users to reach the right healthcare experts and to access experts’ advice when needed.
These kinds of innovations are creating wide possibilities in the healthcare field. The systematic process manages everything right from patients’ data to delivery.
5. Better Outcomes
Today, the majority of tasks are becoming automated. This is saving money and time for patients, nurses, healthcare experts, and government. The healthcare industry now delivers fewer errors and deliver positive outcomes.
Electronic medical records result in higher quality care and better diagnosis. Healthcare is going through a major renovation and ensures improved care.
6. Improved Healthcare Marketing
When it comes to healthcare, you can’t ignore healthcare marketing. Healthcare marketing is a unique niche and should be understood by professionals and marketers. Many healthcare organizations use social media platforms to showcase their brand.
7. Consistent Monitoring of Cases
The
Internet of Medical Things is making a strong impact in medicine and contributes a lot to society. Several devices are now available to connect medical devices for wireless monitoring. With different applications and tools, hospitals can provide information to see conditions and to improve patient’s knowledge. This helps the doctors and experts to devote time to serious cases and those in need.
Visiting a doctor is good, but it can’t be the same in the long run. Valuable time is lost. Also, those who live in rural areas can't reach the hospital on time. This could be dangerous for their health. With IoT, the doctors can monitor the patient’s condition and provide them input instantly. With fewer visits, the experts have more time and energy and treat patients without tensions.
8. Robotic Services
No matter how expert a surgeon is, there is still a chance of error. Even a small error can take a patient’s life. Do you know the medical errors are the leading cause of death in several countries like the US?
Now, technology has become advanced, and the involvement of doctors has become minimal. Robot surgeons are compatible with the latest technologies and providing several benefits to the healthcare industry. They don’t get tired and can be controlled through doctors. They perform surgery and help patients in detecting other symptoms (if any).
9. No Data Breaches
When it comes to treating a patient, data confidentiality is a must. With the help of blockchain technologies, healthcare experts perform different methods of data encryption.
Several private hospitals are now using different Hospital Management Software to improve their ROI. Hospitals are educating their staff, organizing training programs, and other events to educate them about patient’s data safety. Here are other
key points regarding privacy and data security in healthcare that everyone should note.
To know more benefits of healthcare information, you should understand the difficulties that modern healthcare is facing. The need is for better storage of patient’s data and great communication between patients and experts.
Problems and Challenges with Health Informatics
Paperless record is easy to access and is safe against physical damage. However, hackers are finding new technologies to hack these records as well. Health informatics offers a range of benefits to the industry, but it has challenges too.
Let’s find out the limitations and challenges health informatics is struggling with.
1. Information Might be Vulnerable
The online leak of patients’ data is proof that not everything stored in the cloud is safe. Sometimes, the healthcare team forgets to update the software. This might result in data leakage and other errors.
The healthcare system officials should check the latest updates and keep an eye on patient’s data to prevent it from hackers. Every online system should be protected and deliver valuable information.
2. No Restrictions on Personal Laptops and Smartphones
You think that personal devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones are safe to use. But every information you store in the device can be traced. Therefore, healthcare organizations should set certain regulations and laws for data encryption. And access should be given to authorized personnel.
Conclusion
Health Informatics is bringing new possibilities for research and is experimenting with new methods for treating diseases. It is a rapidly growing field and is reaching every sector of modern healthcare.
We, at Covetus, have a team of experts who are well-versed in healthcare-related terms and know the latest technologies around. We have expertise in a wide variety of healthcare technologies like
DICOM,
ICD-9, ICD-10, and more.
