Over the years, the health care industry has undergone tremendous change, which has led to the adoption of new practices, systems, and mechanisms. The traditional model of healthcare had very specific goals that focused on alleviating suffering. However, due to changes in the population dynamics, it proved difficult to attain these goals. To enable this, it took the effort of dedicated scientists in the industry, who sought for reliable methods that could be used to improve service delivery. As years went by, innovations were discovered and incorporated into the system. This marked the end of rudimentary health care methods. State and governmental authorities provided the necessary support by involving stakeholders in the healthcare industry. However, to institute these changes there had to be a platform through which information could easily be collected. This led to the development of health care information systems. The role of health care information systems was to collect regional data on the consumption of health care and present it in a meaningful format to effect necessary change.
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The formal organization of health care in most developed nations stated in the mid of 18th century. More particularly, the year 1850 saw the first hospitals being setup in the United States and consequently, the formal organization of the health care industry begun (Williams & Torrens, 2008). This was a positive towards the creation of a national health care structure that would safeguard the heath status of the population. In 1900, scientific medicine was formally introduced in health care delivery (Williams & Torrens, 2008). After World War II, there were major social and political changes in the health care system; however, after 1980, there was a change of tact leading to the adoption of an economic focus towards health care systems (Williams & Torrens, 2008). Consequently, health care administration became worse as health care organizations merged leading to integration problems (Wager, Lee, and Glaser, 2009). The invention of the computer enabled health information system to be introduced in the national primary healthcare institution framework. During the 1990s, the internet was invented marking the widespread use of electronic medical records and telemedicine approaches (Wager, Lee, and Glaser, 2009). From 1990 to present massive improvement has been made through development of patient centered health care systems.
Health Information Systems is an area of health care that still needs to be developed. The current health care system has become complex, prompting the need for an integrated health information system. Wager, Lee, and Glaser (2009) observe that there is still a major challenge faced in the adoption of a diverse health information system. This will address the current communication problems, which are associated with poor techniques of adopting health information systems. The communication problems are made worse by the present regional framework of health care that makes it difficult to merge health care functions. In such a setting, there needs to be a centralized information operator who will provide a portal for exchange health information under safe and secure conditions. The goal is to preserve the integrity of patient data at all times. Hence, as a stakeholder in the health care industry, I strongly believe that it is my role to improve the standards of health care information systems by adding new ideas to the existing body of knowledge. It is important to recognize the health information systems are beneficial at national, regional, and institutional levels since they promote patient care, medicine administration, and management of health institutions (Wager, Lee, and Glaser, 2009). Hence, I believe that by focusing on health information system, I will be of great help to the entire health fraternity.
The increasing prevalence of diseases affecting vulnerable populations in different parts of the nation calls for the adoption of an effective health information system. The National Coalition for Care Transition (2010) recognizes numerous problems in the management of patients across the country due to a poor referral system. For instance, an estimated 1.5 million people across United States have experienced medication errors that have resulted in a loss of $3.5 billion (National Coalition for Care Transition, 2010). Another survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reveals that 42% of health care institutions have a poor patient culture resulting from poor transfer of patients between medical units (National Coalition for Care Transition, 2010). This shows that the existing health information system is not being used effectively to transfer vital patient information. Thus, whenever vital patient information has not been adequately transferred, it may result in wrong medications since health care providers will be unable to tell the initial prescriptions.
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Lastly, in as much as significant changes have taken place in primary health care since the onset of formal healthcare in 1850, there is still a major gap in health information systems. Even with the move towards scientific health care delivery in the 1900, and subsequent social and political changes in the post World War II era, there was still need for structural changes in the management of healthcare institutions and facilities. Consequently, the 1990s saw the adoption of computers in the health care setting and this marked the birth of health information systems. However, more fundamental problems were to be faced as the health system became more complex due to the move towards multilevel operations. Communication problems is still a major problem among healthcare providers, for example, simple operations like transfer of patients between medical units are accomplished with little concern to vital patient data. As a result, the mortality continues to increase from medical errors while the government losses money. This forms the platform for my decision to purely focus on health information systems. Indeed, there is need for major improvement to be made in the administration of health information systems.