Health Information Management Health Article

Viewpoints

To expand on the concept of health information and how it is managed, the above example stated basic information is collected and stored. However, health information management includes evaluating the process of collecting and storing data, so that cost-effective and efficient changes can be made to improve outcomes or profits. The process can also be the transformation of a paper-based system into a high-tech computer database. Innovative approaches that might improve the system include developing a series of computer screens that are easy for the average patient or staffer to use. Computer screens modeled after those used by banks such as when people use an automatic teller machine (ATM) to get money out of their bank accounts are very easy to use. If the computer screens are carefully developed, the clerk in the admissions department is no longer needed to input the data about the individual patient, and thus a salary can be saved, or the staffer's time put to better use. Putting patient information into a database software package that can also be used to track billing charges allows manipulation of the data to provide more meaningful information to the facility or person using the data.

Professional implications

Within health care organizations, health information management is a task completed by assorted computer-literate individuals whose goal is to track costs, research, or services. Health information management professionals are people with advanced education, often at the master¸s degree level, who possess some knowledge of clinical medicine, patient records, national coding and classification systems, database software, and computer applications. The management professional integrates skills and knowledge to provide the agency, organization. or individual researcher with exact information. Thus, the way data is processed, analyzed, and reported back to users changes the overall outcomes for the agencies.

Health information management requires technical skills so that data manipulation provides useful reports. This means that a working knowledge of the integration of the data with database storage software and statistical analysis of the data is needed. The reports generated must serve as a communication link between many different individuals. Providers use information to make health care decisions, and health care facilities and organizations use it to make business decisions. Health information includes tracking data with the intent to make improvements in the system in some way, or to provide solutions to problems such as those related to research, planning, provision of care, and the evaluation of health care services. Thus the process of collecting and disseminating information must have a positive end goal, such as improving patient care. Outcomes that support quality patient care, medical research, health planning, health care evaluation, and financial reimbursement are a required component of the job. In the modern world of health care, an individual who develops and uses innovative approaches to solve problems, save money, or redesign work habits is highly sought.

The individual who is hired to manage health care information is required to have a working knowledge of medical ethics and the legal ramifications of inappropriate use of personal data. For example, the federal government is very clear about the rights of an individual patient, especially in medical research. It is imperative to store data in a way that protects the anonymity of the individual and his or her privacy rights when the data is accessed for research purposes. In addition, data must be stored to insure that confidentiality is maintained, and that access is denied to those individuals who have no need for the specific information about the individual patient. Data must be stored so that it can be used to compare a patient's care with standards of care and quality indicators, which are needed for evidence-based practice.

Those working with health information may be asked to produce a needs analysis, complete a systems analysis, or redesign the existing system, addressing quality of care, costs, care delivery processes, and financial questions. Tying reports to the volume of services, charges, costs, and reimbursements are current and future expectations. Managers of health information work in a wide variety of settings, such as with private physicians; in hospitals or nursing homes; with insurance companies, law firms, and government agencies; and for companies who specialize in information technology. In summary, the entire process of health information management is focused on securing, analyzing, and integrating the information so that it can used for a specific purpose.

Resources available about health information management are extensive. Universities, the world wide web, local hospitals, newspapers, and government agencies are resources that can be tapped to provide more specific information to the reader.