Team_Work

HS2056 Information Management in Healthcare Student Number: 0704521 “Discuss the impact of Information as a vital resource for effective provision of healthcare in the chosen organization Lambeth PCT” In the following assignment I will be discussing how information is vital for my chosen organization Harringay Primary Care Trust “Information is data and the manipulated and processed form of data is called information. It is more meaningful than data. It is used for making decisions. Data is used as input for processing and information I output of this processing.”[1] People, software, hardware, data, networks are the components of an information system these components have a huge impact of the effective provision of Harringay pct. A resource is a factor of production for example it is good for producing goods and services. People use it as a source something they use in time of need. It is a major element wish makes the healthcare system effective which helps making decisions. Information can be viewed as the method that brings together the interacting components of the healthcare system and it provides the connecting strand between members in a corporate health organization, between organisations and between individual service uses and the service providers. Healthcare is important for everyone, so healthcare information resources will help you make the best decision for family or company. Provisions and management of healthcare resources can be a major zone of conflict and tension, due to the constant striving to provide the best possible healthcare. It is a truism to point out the vital role of human resources, the estate and other physical resources, and consumables, in successfully delivering healthcare. Finance does not itself deliver healthcare, but it is the essential means of mobilizing and motivating the other resource providers. Together, these expensive and scarce resource commodities provide the means by which the health professional functions. In turn, the manager is charged with ensuring that the resources are appropriately marshaled and utilized. The ways in which the resources are assembled and applied is important in determine the quality of care delivered and the efficiency and effectiveness which determine not only the benefit to the individual patient, but also the total amount of care which can be delivered. Because of this essential and well intentioned professional and managerial self interest there is frequent scope for conflict over the appropriateness and use of healthcare resources. Too often what is missing is a full factual appreciation of all the aspects of resource requirements and their management. Effective influence on the management of resources lays not so much with senior policy makers as with operational staff who use and deploy the resources of the health sector. Information has a meaning to promote understanding and have am impact on decision making and people’s attitudes.. Information is therefore use in relation to culture; its role in publicise preferred behaviors, discouraging undesired behaviors and supporting change. The clear common thread for effective information to fuel and support processes in the management of resources, and for the staff involved to be aware of the need for appropriate information, and to understand hot to use it effectively. The organisation is large and complex there are many powerful and influential stakeholders with different expectations of healthcare and different goals. Healthcare is operating in a rapidly changing environment; in addition people’s expectations are increasing as they have access to more and more information. Intelligent and articulate patients can become experts on their specific problems as the doctors who treat them. The more articulate and informed my attract a disproportionate share of healthcare resources because of their ability to exert moral and political pressure. This puts pressure on the healthcare system to ensure that resources are fairly distributed, based on priorities defined by society and clinical needs. Healthcare is a complex environment within which resources are deployed and within which they must be managed in order to meet the goals of the diver’s stakeholders. Information is often considered to be a major driver for change as indeed it is, but merely making information available will not in itself drive change. For years the NHS has had more data that it knows what to do with, lack of data and lack of information have often been used as excused for avoiding change. There are two types of information retrospective and prospective, retrospective information allows is to find out what has gone wrong and to change it. Prospective information ensures that we get it right first time and avoid thing going wrong. Both types of information are essential for effective and efficient use of resource. Prospective information allows us to get it right the first time, but retrospective information allows us to monitor for those cases where we don’t. Information about the workforce and their views is essential if a high-quality service is to be provided. In addition information about the local community, labor market and alternative employers is essential in order to maintain a skilled workforce when external pressures and demand for service change. Quality of information in healthcare depends largely on the user of information. The information has to be relevant, the Harringay PCT as different users require different kinds of information. The information needs to be up to date as old information is useless. Information needs to be accurate in order for it to be an important foundation for effective provision if the information is not accessible then it is not use able. Harringay PCT has always tried to be open and accountable to the public they serve, but in addition people of Harringay are enshrined in the “freedom of Information Act 2000”[2]. This Act provides the right to access recorded information held by public authorities, such as PCT and places, obligations on these authorities and sets out certain exemptions which can be taken into account before a decision to release certain information if made. Information is a vital resource of healthcare in order for Harringay PCT to be effective they have introduced a system which stores data the increases speed processing that information in a quick and more reliable method as it reduces human error, this system has increased their productivity there are more options and services available. This system has been effective as it has stores a huge amount of information. A key issue on the impact of information is data generation which is the basic input of information. This data required for any information system depends on the requirements of the organisation, available resources and the expertise to operate the system. Primary Care Trust have taken charge of local health care alongside this strategic health authorities analysing how people are performing and if they meet the desired expectations pct focuses on three roles; with its local population to advance wellbeing and well-being; commissioning a comprehensive and reasonable range of high quality, accessible and professional services, within allocated resources, across all service sectors; and directly providing high quality responsive and capable services where this gives best-value. Attain their function for, and with, their local population, in pursuit of fairness, quality, awareness, improvement, effectiveness and affordability they Lead their local health system; and expand, and distribute their functions through, effective partnerships – particularly practice sourced officialised; and with Local Authorities e.g. in developing Local Area Agreements; and with the full range of different types of providers. Harringay PCT holds providers to account through commissioning and contracting and are responsible to their local population directly and throughout OSC scrutiny; and to Strategic Health Authorities. The PCT functions within the structure of Department of Health policy. Primary care in Harringay describes the range of healthcare services offered in the community close to where people live and work, as opposed to secondary or acute care, which involves healthcare services in hospital. Primary care in Lambeth is provided by: • Our community nursing and therapy teams. • 200 family doctors (GPs) across 52 practices. • 40 dental practices. • 21 ophthalmic practices. • 60 pharmacies. Around 345,000 people are registered with local doctors in Lambeth. We employ around 900 people. To conclude information sharing is a core issue for effective provision in Harringay PCT; they need to encourage work professionals to work effective together to deliver frontline services. Better information sharing between is vital underpins all integrated process. Information is vital for Harringay PCT databases are now linked, enabling users to gain all the necessary information from a single source. It is widely recognized that Harringay PCT and other health providers do not use information to its full potential. In my opinion they have a lack of interoperability which in healthcare needs to be both effective and sustainable. Healthcare as a sector was quicker than most to see the necessity of sharing information, and the benefits of open standards for connecting different information systems. In time as Harringays as Health Systems grow in size and complexity, Enterprise Systems Integration will become increasingly vital to the successful management of patient care and the bottom line. Successful integration technologies must adhere to accepted medical and communications standards and efficiently leverage existing communications infrastructure to connect those systems and applications through standardized and proprietary formats. Ultimately, the lack of interoperability between existing information and imaging systems is one of the most critical problems facing the diagnostic and management effectiveness of the healthcare profession today. To be successful, Healthcare Enterprise Systems must produce one seamless integrated enterprise diagnostic network. Not only will this increase efficiency and save time and money, this level of interoperability is essential for ultimate implementation of a standards based Electronic Health Record. ----------------------- [1] Information and measurement, Christopher J,Lesurf, G,. 2002 [2] Occupational Health Law Kloss m.d 2005