AWERProcedia Information Technology & Computer

AWERProcedia Information Technology & Computer Science 2 (2012) 224-228

2nd World Conference on Innovation and Computer Sciences - 2012

Health information technology benefits Marjan Laal a * a

Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Sina Trauma & Research Center, Sina Hospital, Hassan-abad Square, Hafiz Street, Tehran 11555/3876, Iran

Abstract This review article seeks to describe main benefits that follow use of health information technology. Several possible advantages to the term over paper records have been proposed, but there is debate about the degree to which these are achieved in practice. This research on the topic reached conclusions that showed overall positive effects of health information technology on key aspects of care including quality and efficiency of health care. It helps medical professionals to provide a quick and effective treatment for the patients whilst helps to reduce the cost of treatment. Keywords: health information technology, benefits, advantages; Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Dogan Ibrahim. ©2012 Academic World Education & Research Center. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The healthcare industry has experienced a proliferation of innovations aimed at enhancing life expectancy, quality of life, diagnostic and treatment options, as well as the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the healthcare system. Information technology has played a vital role in the innovation of healthcare systems [1]. The potential for information technology to have an impact on health care safety, cost, and quality has never been greater. The technology to create, transmit, store and manage individuals’ health data is rapidly advancing. Significantly, this potential is recognized at the highest levels of government and in the private sector as both confront the spiraling costs and inefficiencies of health care [2]. Some evidence suggests that health information technology (HIT) can improve the efficiency, cost effectiveness, quality, and safety of medical care delivery by making best practice guidelines and * ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Marjan, Laal, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 11555/3876, Iran

E-mail address: [email protected] / Tel.: +0-000-000-0000

Marjan Laal . / AWERProcedia Information Technology & Computer Science (2012) 224-228

evidence databases immediately available to clinicians, and by making computerized patient records available throughout a health care network [3]. Computer-based information and communication technologies continue to transform the delivery of health care and the conception and scientific understanding of the human body and the diseases that afflict it. In fact, modern medicine has become almost inconceivable without the use of computers [4]. Nowadays, there is an enthusiasm to work to deliver breakthrough medical inventions that can eliminate the potential for errors, improve the quality of healthcare delivery and save lives [5]. There are a number of benefits ascribed to the use of HIT. It is through understanding the benefits, that we can truly implement it to our benefit. Before one can make a judgment on the merits of HIT, it is important to understand exactly what HIT is. This article attempts to give better information about HIT and the benefits following its implementation in healthcare system, enabling physicians, hospitals and stakeholders interested in promoting or considering adoption to determine what benefits to expect from HIT use, to implement the system in order to maximize the value derived from their investment. 1.1. Material and method This review article begins with a brief introduction of HIT and continues with the main potential benefits following its use in the health care setting. It is tried to examine the evidence-based reports on HIT advantages. Key issues were identified through literature review on HIT and through literature review on its benefits. 1.2. Results The medical industry has experienced overwhelming advances over the last 50 years, and now even further steps are being taken to help optimize patient care. By turning to computer software, the use of HIT is changing the landscape of patient and doctor relationships. The overwhelming benefits of this enhanced technology stand to drastically improve several different crucial aspects of how a physician is able to acquire any necessary information about a patient, and as a result, will increase the improvement of patient treatment [6]. HIT provides the umbrella framework to describe the comprehensive management of health information across computerized systems and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers. In general HIT is increasingly viewed as the most promising tool for improving the overall quality, safety and efficiency of the health delivery system [7]. Tierney and colleagues [8] found that showing physicians information about a patient’s previous lab work when they ordered a test in a clinic’s order entry system and reminding them of the date of the patient’s last test reduced the volume of tests ordered by about 6 percent. Evidence suggests that in hospitals, features of HIT specifically, clinical decision support and computerized physician order entry, could help reduce the cost of prescription drugs by prompting providers to use generic alternatives, lower cost therapies, and, for more complex drug regimens, cost-effective drug management programs [9, 10]. Mekhjian [11] reported that HIT could reduce the average length of a hospital stay by 5% or more by speeding up certain hospital functions; such as ordering and completing tests, ordering and administering medications, and collecting information and preparing for patients’ discharge, and by avoiding costly errors; such as adverse drug reactions that could lead to delays in discharging patients. Research examining serious errors in the medications that patients receive in hospitals has shown that such mistakes are both common and potentially expensive and that they could be substantially 225


reduced through greater use of HIT. Studies have found potential reductions in error rates from the use of HIT of between 50% and over 90% [12-15]. One study [16] found that 1.4% of hospital admissions were caused by adverse drug events, and 28% of those were considered preventable. Honigman and colleagues [17] determined in their study that adverse drug reactions that arose through care provided at an outpatient facility and that required hospitalization occurred at an average annual rate of 3.4 for every 1,000 patients. Avoiding even a fraction of the errors that now occur in inpatient and outpatient settings could yield significant savings. Research has shown that physicians’ offices can realize savings from reducing the pulling of paper charts and the use of transcription services and eliminating paper medical records [18]. The potential of HIT to reduce spending for health care depends in large part on its ability to make care more efficient by cutting the cost of delivering services, avoiding redundant services, and improving providers’ productivity. 1.3. Discussion HIT is the application of information processing involving both computer hardware and software that deals with the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of health care information, data, and knowledge for communication and decision making. HIT as an umbrella framework, describes the comprehensive management of health information across computerized systems and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers. HIT refers to the use of a variety of electronic methods for managing information about the health and medical care of individuals and groups of patients [19]. The term HIT generally refers to computer applications for the practice of medicine. Those applications may include computerized entry systems for physicians’ ordering of tests or medications, support systems for clinical decision making, and electronic prescribing of medications. Information plays a key role in health care. Providers such as physicians and hospitals generate and process information as they provide care to patients [20]. One of the key goals of using this technology is the reduction of medical errors. Information about a patient's on going health history would get stored in readable form, which would prevent medical mistakes due to a former physician's poor hand writing. Quick and timely access to a patient's health history documents would allow a doctor to pursue the necessary treatments or medications needed for a patient. These documents are maintained as part of a patient's personal health record. The record would also contain any information about family health which could prove pertinent for future medical situations. Overall goals of HIT are to enhance the patient's treatment and decrease medical errors. In a lot of situations, medical errors occur due to medications prescribed to a patient that may end up having a negative effect. Electronic prescribing notes of any drug interactions that may be harmful, allows the doctor to determine which medications are covered by the patient's insurance, and allows for clear and accurate information being presented about the patient's reactions to past administrations of certain medications [13, 14]. Bates and colleagues [21] found that providers cancelled 69 percent of lab tests when alerted by an electronic notice that a test appeared to be redundant. That result, when combined with a related estimate that 9 percent of all lab tests appeared to be redundant [22], implies that HIT with a notice of redundancy could reduce the number of laboratory tests by about 6 percent ; 69 percent of 9 percent. Harpole et al. [23] found that providing physicians with evidence based critiques of certain types of imaging at the point at which a provider orders a radiological study that is, providing a clinical decision support system had no significant effect on whether or not a test was ordered but did influence the 226


types of radiological images that were taken. HIT thus appears to ease the job of monitoring the use of radiological services, but there is little evidence that it helps control costs. In the area of pediatric patient-safety, a growing number of studies have described the frequency of medication errors and adverse drug events in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings [24-27]. For a number of reasons—including weight- and age-based medication dosing, medication unitdoses designed for adult patients, and the limited ability of children to communicate or self-check medications before they are administered [28, 29] infants and children are at higher risk for serious medication errors and resultant adverse drug events than are adults. HIT is believed to be a vital component in the quest to improve medication safety in pediatrics. 1.4. Conclusion There have been numerous benefits for use of HIT, in the literature. The use of HIT to address improvements in patient safety is currently driving health care organizations to automate clinical care operations and associated administrative functions. Overall goals of HIT are to enhance the patient's treatment and decrease medical errors. To date HIT is increasingly viewed as the most promising tool for improving the overall quality, safety and efficiency of the health delivery system. References [1] Omachonu V.K. & Einspruch N.G. Innovation in healthcare delivery systems: a conceptual framework.. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 2010; 15(1), Article 2.. [2] Alliance, Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms (p.4). Report to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the National Alliance for Health Information Technology, USA; 2008 April 28, Cited 2012 March 4, from: 10_2_hit_terms [1].pdf. [3] Shekelle P.G., Morton S.C. & Keeler E.B. Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 132, Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center, Santa Monica, CA, USA; Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) publishing; 2006 April (NO: 06-E006). [4] Marckmann G. & Goodman K.W. Introduction: Ethics of Information Technology in Health Care. Journal of International review of information technology, 2006; 5 (Sep), 2-5. [5] Eureka. Trends in medical device innovation. Eureka Medical, the inventor network, UK; 2004, Cited 2012 Mar. 4 from: www.eurekamed.com/trends-medical-device-innovation.html. [6] Stanfords J.P. Benefits of health information technology. USA; Ezine@articles, Publishing, 2010 Mar. 9, Cited 2012 Mar. 4 from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-of-Health-Information-Technology&id=3899096. [7] Chaudhry B., Wang J., Wu S., Maglione M., Mojica W., Roth E., et al. Systematic review: Impact of health information technology on quality, efficiency, and costs of medical care, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2006; 144 (10), 742–752. [8] Tierney W.M., McDonald C.J., Martin D.K., Hui S.L. & Rogers M.P. Computerized display of past test results: effect on outpatient testing. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1987; 107 (4), 569–574. [9] Mullett C. J., Evans R. S., Christenson J. C. & Dean J. M. Development and impact of a computerized pediatric antiinfective decision support program. Journal of Pediatrics, 2001; 108 (4), e75-e85. [10] Teich J. M., Merchia P. R., Schmiz J. L., Kuperman G. J., Spurr C. D. & Bates D.W. Effects of computerized physician order entry on prescribing practices. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2000; 160 (18), 2741-7. [11] Mekhjian H. S., Kumar R. R., Kuehn L., Bentley T. D., Teater P., Thomas A., et al. Immediate Benefits Realized following Implementation of Physician Order Entry at an Academic Medical Center. J. of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2002; 9(5), 529–539.

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