You are a health information systems manager who has been asked to evaluate a new database and report to the Board of Directors on its functionality. Describe the quality management, legal, and ethical issues surrounding the system. Describe the role of informatics in improving patient quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and clinical outcomes.
Please include a 1,000 word outline with paper
Writing Standards:
- Conduct secondary research using databases that contain peer-reviewed articles from major health care or medical academic journals.
- Your sources must be no more than 5 years old unless they provide historical perspective and/or is seminal literature
- Relate research to real-world health issues.
- Analyze and assess scholarly work in the field of health care.
- Demonstrate critical thinking by writing well-organized, clear, concise documents.
- Apply APA standards in written work.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
Health information systems play a vital role in healthcare management where it helps healthcare professionals to gather, store, and analyze data to provide better and efficient patient care. Nowadays, the use of databases in health care is very common. In this context, this paper will provide an in-depth analysis of the quality management, legal, and ethical issues surrounding a new database that a health information systems manager has been asked to evaluate. Additionally, the paper will also discuss the role of informatics in improving patient quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and clinical outcomes.
Quality Management, Legal, and Ethical Issues Surrounding the System:
The new database under consideration is a valuable tool in healthcare, which offers many benefits such as improving patient outcomes, facilitating communication among healthcare professionals, and increasing the efficiency of healthcare delivery. However, there are some quality management, legal, and ethical issues surrounding the system that needs to be addressed.
One of the quality management issues could be the accuracy and completeness of the data that is being entered into the system. Therefore, it is essential to maintain data accuracy by implementing strict quality control measures, such as data verification and validation. This will ensure that the data entered into the system is accurate and complete, leading to better patient outcomes.
Regarding legal issues, there could be concerns related to patient privacy and data security. Patients have the right to privacy, and the database must comply with the established standards to protect patient data. Healthcare organizations should follow the guidelines established by regulatory bodies such as HIPAA to ensure data security, confidentiality, and protect patient privacy.
The ethical issues surrounding the new database could be related to the potential misuse of patient data. Integrating the database with electronic health records (EHRs) can potentially expose sensitive patient information to unauthorized individuals or entities. Therefore, it is essential to restrict access to confidential patient data to authorized personnel.
Role of Informatics in Improving Patient Quality Improvement, Evidence-Based Practice, and Clinical Outcomes:
The use of informatics in healthcare can lead to better patient quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and clinical outcomes. With the help of data analytics, clinical outcomes and the effectiveness of treatments can be analyzed to assess the impact of specific interventions. Additionally, it can also reveal variations in healthcare practices, which can help healthcare organizations to implement strategies to improve patient care.
The use of informatics can also help in evidence-based practice, where healthcare professionals can identify best practices and interventions that have been proven to be effective. With access to a comprehensive database, healthcare professionals can make more informed and evidence-based decisions, which can lead to improved patient outcomes.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the use of databases in healthcare has many benefits, including improving patient outcomes, facilitating communication among healthcare professionals, and increasing the efficiency of healthcare delivery. However, it is essential to address quality management, legal, and ethical issues when implementing new databases. The role of informatics in healthcare is crucial, and healthcare organizations must leverage the technology to improve patient quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and clinical outcomes.