Healthcare_Management_Information_Systems

1. Why do you think a CIO survey is important for the HMIS industry' A CIO survey is very important for the HMIS industry. This is because it is extremely important for the health care services to be able to allot its proper attentions and resources to specific departments and areas for the best and most efficient working of the industry. This is important, as it is in the best interest of both the government as well as the people that the health care industry works efficiently. This would result in lowered incidents of diseases, especially infectious diseases, which would mean lowered costs for the government and better health of the people. 2. Predict what type of hardware investments would be considered key to HMIS future. Then check out the full survey results, and compare your prediction to the actual results. As per my predictions, the most important type of hardware investments considered key to HMIS future would be in medical equipment, such as CAT scan machines, computers for doctors and nurses, etc. However, looking at the survey, we find that the top priority in the actual results is for clinical information systems. This does not surprise me, as information management is extremely important for the health care industry, both for the staff as well the patients. This is because having a fast, efficient, and reliable information system network results in a very efficient and productive working environment, which makes information easily and quickly accessible. This is extremely important for the health care industry. 3. Why do you think the results showed investment in EHR to be a top priority for CIOs in the coming year' The results show investment in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to be a top priority. This makes complete sense. Electronic Health Records or Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), represent digital versions of the records that hospitals keep of patients. This is something that is not really too new, but it is new enough to make people feel uncomfortable about. Most people, both health care professionals and patients, are used to using paper records for their medical record and having electronic records can sometimes make new patients uncomfortable. This is because most people consider electronic data quite unsafe and many people think that their privacy might be invaded if someone hacks into the system and looks at their private medical records. However, having electronic health records makes it extremely easy for the health care professionals to share patient data amongst each other. This can be very important, as people tend to travel from one place to another and their paper records might not be available in an emergency. Many more reasons exist that have prompted many health care institutions to make investments in this regard. Electronic health records make it extremely easy for doctors and other medical professionals to share patient information amongst each other. This can be very important, as various medical institutions and insurance companies, including Medicare and Medicaid, have to exchange patient information with each other for many reasons. Having paper records makes it extremely difficult to manage and sort such data, as the paper records have to be physically checked and sorted by hand. Also, it takes a long time to physically transfer these records from hospital to hospital or to another medical institution. However, the very same records in a digital form can very easily be managed; the records can be sorted according to any field (e.g. patient name, address, age, etc.) and they can be sent instantly through email or any other medical information system. They also reduce many costs associated with paper records, which is why investment in these is usually prioritized. However, an important thing to note is that these digital records are prone to being intercepted and hacked into. For instance, someone can very easily obtain the private medical records of a person, and this security concern is one of the reasons why many people, especially patients, are not comfortable with having electronic health records (Mendoza, 2009; Nanji, 2009). This is another reason why investment in this requires being greater, as the medical institutions have to come up with failsafe and strict measures that protect the privacy of the patients by making EHRs more secure. The EHRs contain the age, name, address, and sometimes even the billing information of patients, all of which can be used against the patients if they fall into the wrong hands. For instance, in 2010, Medicaid was faced with an insurance fraud purported by an Armenian-American organized crime group that was operating in the U.S. at the time (Rothfeld, 2010). The authorities got wind of the operation when they received reports about how various people’s personal information, such as their social security numbers, were being stolen. More than 2,900 Medicare patients from New York reported that their information had been stolen. It was later discovered that the Armenian group had used these stolen identities to set up fake accounts in the names of both patients and doctors and were using them to defraud the insurance companies for the money. As many as 118 medical clinics in 25 states were found to have been involved in faking and defrauding the insurance companies. They stole all the information from electronic health records. This makes the security of such records to be one of the biggest concerns for health care professionals, which is why we find that it is top priority for in the CIO survey. References Mendoza, E. (2003, October). “Security considerations when choosing an EMR system,” Health Management Technology. Retrieved on September 28, 2011 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DUD/is_10_24/ai_109025623/ Nanji, F. (2009, February 19). “Security Challenges of Electronic Medical Records,” Computerworld Security. Retrieved on September 28, 2011 from: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9128261/Security_Challenges_of_Electronic_Medical_Records'taxonomyName=Security&taxonomyId=17 Rothfield, M. (2010, October 14). “Medicare Scheme Netted $35 Million, Officials Say,” Wall Street Journal. Tan, J. & Payton F. C. (2010). Adaptive Health Management Information Systems: Concepts, Cases, and Practical Applications (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC.