Challenges Of Implementing Healthcare Information System Essay.

Clinical and administrative parts of healthcare information system

Question :

How does your problem/solution impact on the marketing dimension?

The information system in the healthcare is one of the basic requirements of the healthcare organization. In this report the issues faced by the Al-Shifa for implementing the healthcare information system is being described in details. The healthcare information system is used to store data regarding the administrative and management service of the organization. The information regarding the operation, financial and legal issues are also included within the healthcare information system. The main objective of the healthcare information system is to improve the accessibility of relevant data that will help to improve the quality of health service. Without the proper information related to the healthcare system it is not possible for the healthcare workers to provide accurate and correct treatment.

The main challenge that is faced by the healthcare organization of Oman is due to the high cost that is needed for implementing the sophisticated equipment of the healthcare information system. The issue have arisen due to shortage of skilled health workers, which has the ability to handle the complex equipment. The lack of professional training is one of the key issues that has caused in poor implementation of the healthcare information system. This report focuses on the relevant theories related to the healthcare information system. The hospital has faced several issues like inaccurate and poor patient treatment due to lack of proper clinical information (Al-Gharbi 2014).          

The healthcare information system can be divided into two major parts that includes the clinical and the administrative part. The main difference between these two components is the type of data that is being used. The clinical form the data that is used is directly related to the information of the patient care. All the major decisions related to the patient care are made using the clinical data. It is important to have correct and accurate information that will help in the matter of providing accurate treatment to the patients. On the other hand, the data which are needed for the management of a healthcare organization are kept under the administrative data. The data related to individual patient care are also done using the administrative data. The clinical information related to the healthcare is obtained using the clinical database and also the evidence based decision making system. The administrative part of the data is used for making business report, which will help to set the benchmark for the activities with the healthcare organization. The epidemiological information system is another essential element of the administrative information system. Detail information regarding various diseases and health condition of the population is used under this system of information. There is also the component of quality system that helps in the matter of providing high quality healthcare service.

The elements of the clinical and administrative parts together form the complex theoretical model of the healthcare information system. The information that is used in these elements forms the basis of the healthcare information system and thereby assists in the process of building clinical database. The theories of Trait can be used to build the basis of building the elements related to the healthcare information system. The leadership and the action behaviour is also is determined using the components of the Trait theory.           

Theoretical models of healthcare information system

The use of the healthcare information system is one of the effective techniques that are used by all the major healthcare organization to improve the efficiency of the healthcare service. All the healthcare workers, nurses and medical practioaiires use the healthcare information system to provide accurate and high quality treatment to the patients.

Due to lack of proper infrastructure within the Al-Shifa hospital of Oman, all the health workers had to face difficulty in using proper information related to the individual patient care. The nurses of the organizations are also not able to display proper leadership attributes without the help of proper information system. In order to have efficient leadership skills in nursing, it is necessary to have sufficient information related to the self-awareness. The organized information will also help the nurse to provide proper guidance to all the other workers of the organization (Ball, Weaver and Kiel 2013).

The healthcare information will also help in the workers to develop solutions to deal with the issues that are faced by the patients while seeking treatment. Moreover, using the information of the past records it is also possible for the healthcare workers to deal with similar situation of the future. The government officials of the healthcare department will use the information of medical care to prepare policies of health department. Hence, without the implementation of the healthcare information system it is not possible for Al-Shifa hospital to provide effective quality of health service to the society. The reputation of the healthcare organization can also be compromised as they will fail to provide accurate and correct treatment to the society.

According to Bowling (2014), one of the effective ways to deal with the help of the effective health care information system, it is possible to deal with the financial elements of healthcare costs. The proper utilization of the available resource can help to provide cost-effective treatments. With the help of proper access of the healthcare information system it is possible for Al-Shifa to deal with the increased cost of healthcare service. The healthcare service is one of the primary essential services that are needed for the society. In a nation like Oman, everyday thousands of individuals seek medical treatment from the healthcare organization. It is not possible for the health workers to keep the records of every patient. It is important to have proper operation management techniques, which will help to deal with the information that is related to the patient care. The hospitals need to have sufficient budget that will help to deal with the operation management system.

During the modern days the hospital information system requires the application of the latest technology and therefore helps to deal with individual patient care. The application of the latest technology includes installation hardware and the software platforms. This will help to deal with the administrative and management related tasks of the hospital, which includes billing information and clinical data related to the history of individual patients. By the year of 1999, 30% of the hospitals of Oman have introduced the policy of advanced hospital information system.  Moreover, by the end of 2010s, almost all the hospitals of Oman have introduced the policy of healthcare information system (Jahan et al. 2015). The cost of the health service has increased significantly after the implication of the healthcare service. In spite of the fact that only 2% of the total hospital expense spent on the information system, after its implication, the cost of affording medical cost have increased significantly.  It is important for the healthcare organizations like Al-Shifa hospital to deal with the extra amount that is spent on the implementation of the information system.

Challenges faced by Al-Shifa hospital in implementing healthcare information system

Chiao, Künzle and Reichert (2012), have stated that the application of the healthcare information system, a healthcare organization can minimize the cost that is spent on the total healthcare service. The use of the healthcare system can help also help to provide cost-effective health service. The early financing that is spend on the healthcare information system will help to build strong and healthy infrastructure for the providing error free medical treatments to patients. One of the primary challenges for Al-Shifa hospital is to provide cost-effective healthcare, which will help the people of Oman to seek accurate form of treatments. With time as the healthcare information system will improve, it is possible for the Al-Shifa hospital to provide lower cost health service. The overall expenditure of the health cost can also be reduced significantly. However, the Al-Shifa hospital needs to employ skilful IT engineers so that it is possible to make the best use of the information system to reduce the cost of the overall healthcare infrastructure.  

The healthcare information system is one of the effective ways that can be help in the marketing of the healthcare organization. In the modern days the healthcare information system is used as an effective tool for marketing. The use of the latest technology is considered to be one of the effective and reliable sources to provide information about critical healthcare planning. The healthcare market of Oman has faced significant obstacles for the implication process of the healthcare information system. The lack of awareness among the people of Oman is the main resistance faced by Al-Shifa hospital to implement the strategy of information system. The marketing of the hospital care will help to promote the ideas of health policies. The hospital can use the techniques of digital marketing that will help in the matter of increasing the popularity of the organization. With the total number of internet users increasing in Oman it is easily possible for Al-Shifa hospital to gain popularity with the healthcare market. Moreover, with the help of hospital information system it is possible for Al-Shifa to provide details data about the clinical care that is provided to the public. The digital form of marketing will also help to reduce the cost of healthcare marketing and it is also possible to reach a wide range of people. The use of social media marketing is one of the effective ways to choose increase the popularity of the hospital (Mackey and Liang 2013).

As there are a growing numbers of healthcare organizations in Oman, Al-Shifa hospital has to face tough competition. The strategy of the marketing activities helps to reduce the cost of the implementing health care information system. The marketing activities help to encourage the patients to make best use of the healthcare information service. The marketing campaign will also help to promote the ethical values of the hospital and also ensure that the personal information about patient care is kept classified. Steinberg and Sackmary (2015), have mentioned that unlike investment in the marketing actives of other forms of industries, investment in the healthcare industry is significantly low. However, with the proper application of the healthcare information system, it is possible to encourage more investment in the health sector.

Benefits of implementing healthcare information system

According to Sun et al. (2013), it is crucial for the health care organization to follow the code of ethical conduct while displaying advertisements. With the help of the healthcare information system it is possible to prevent unethical practice during the marketing activities. This will help to ensure that the patients do not get any false and wrong information. The marketing of the healthcare service is one of the essential requirements in the society of Oman. It is the duty of Al-Shifa hospital to provide correct form of information and increase the level of patient awareness about the patient care. The marketing activities will help to also help the healthcare organization to attract other healthcare workers, nurse and other medical practionaires.

Without the help of the proper strategy, it is not possible to implement the use of healthcare care information system. One of the main effective features of the healthcare information system is to use effective and accurate information. The economy of Oman is dominated by the industrial sector, which forms 55% of GDP of the nation (Zahlan 2016). The political environment of the country has wide range of industrial sectors as the government of Oman encourages wide range of economy. Being one of the most liberal and democratic countries of the world, it is possible for the Al-Shifa hospital to easily implement the strategy of information system in healthcare. Being one of the largest crude oil producers of the world, economy of the nation is hugely dependent on the export of petroleum products. The economic stability of the nation will encourage the firms like Al-Shifa hospital to invest more in the latest technological development of the healthcare service. Moreover, the improved and advanced healthcare facilities of the nation will also encourage the Al-Shifa hospital to take aggressive measure to improve the infrastructure of healthcare informatics.

The advanced technological infrastructure of Oman will also help the Al-Shifa hospital to easily incorporate effective strategy (Landen 2015). Al-Shifa hospital has to consider the legal policies of the nation so that it is possible to ensure there is no unethical practice that is being incorporated in the business strategy of the nation.

The main problem that is associated with the implementation of the healthcare information system is the lack of awareness among the people and also proper utilization of the available resources.

The improved healthcare information system is one of the significant parts of the operation management that help to improve the supply chain in the healthcare department. The supply chain of the Al-Shifa hospital can be improved with increased level of information that will help to deal with the consequence of gathering resources. The dynamic flow of information is important to improve the flow of supply distribution (Koh et al. 2013). The healthcare firm need to have effective supply chain that will help to decode the information that is needed in the effective use of the health resources. It is a challenge for the Al-Shifa hospital to meet the high demand of resources that is needed in the health service. With the help of advanced information the management of the hospital can establish partnership with the health resource suppliers that will help to meet the demand. The improved flow of information can help the operations of the supply chain by reducing the total time by incorporating the technique of arms-length supply chain. The cost of the supply chain is generally expensive in the health department of Oman. However, with the help of the advanced information system the cost of the supply of health service can be reduced significantly (Abdelhak, Grostick and Hanken 2014).

Conclusion

The project management helps to deal with the future planning of the healthcare system of Al-Shifa hospital. The healthcare information system can be improved by effective project planning that is aimed to improve the service quality of the organization. The sociotechnical approach is one of the effective techniques that can be incorporated as the project model for better patient care information system. With the help of the sociotechnical approach, it is possible to incorporate the IT infrastructure for improved quality of healthcare information system. The standard formula for this model of project will help to deal in organization of the healthcare information that is needed for the patient care of the society of Oman. The hospital also needs to employ skilled IT professionals, as the project development manager, who will help in building a strong foundation for the future of the patient care information system (Bryde, Broquetas and Volm 2013).

The team that are involved in the implementation process of the healthcare information system of Al-Shifa hospital need to act efficiently, which will help in proper utilization of the clinical data that is obtained. They only have to depend on the information provided by the patients for recommending treatment to the patients. They also have to face the risks of medical errors that can arise due to lack of proper and accurate information about the individual patient care. It is also not possible for the organizations to implement innovative ideas of business. It is the duty of the hospital management to employ the workers, who will have the skills to make use of the health care informatics. In order to improve the infrastructure of the HIS, it is important for the hospital to gather sufficient funds from government and private organization.

It is important for Al-Shifa hospital to use the PESTEL analysis to prepare effective strategies for the healthcare information system. With the rise of the digital age, the people of Oman society are highly dependent on the use of the latest form of technology to seek the health care service. This opportunity of the society can be used by the Al-Shifa hospital to implement strategy for development of the health information system. The Al-Shifa had to spend in the advertising and marketing campaign to educate the patients about the importance of the healthcare information system. The hospital also needs to implement the strategy for improvement of communication and spread awareness among the people. The clinical and administrative models of information is one of the best effective techniques that can be applied for providing better quality health service and also reduce the total number of medical errors.

Conclusion

Due to the lack of proper information the Al-Shifa hospital of Oman has to face several issues as they failed to provide quality health service. With the help of effective healthcare information it is possible to reduce the cost of health service and thereby improve the business performance of the organization. The supply chain management of the healthcare service can also be improved with the help of effective information system. It is the duty of the hospital management to have effective project management plans that will help to improve the infrastructure of the patient care information system.      

Reference

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