Informatics for Healthcare Professionals

I worked in the USA as a hormonal health educator for nearly 25 years before coming back to live in Australia in 2001. I am a writer and published a book on Women's Health that sold over 30,000 copies in the 1990s. I have just begun a Masters in Health Informatics at Rockhampton University. Starting my studies, I felt as though I was rowing around in circles in heavy seas, and Kathleen's book was a great help to me by giving the big picture about Health Informatics in the U.S. and global scene. Kathleen's book is written for undergraduates, but I understand it is also being used in postgraduate programs. Kathleen's book is well organized, with helpful case studies, and it is written very clearly. My husband has two Ph.Ds (in other areas) and has written over 20 books. He has had a life-long interest in preventive medicine. He also felt this was a very well written book with a lot of helpful information.

AN ANALYSIS OFINFORMATICS FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALSInformatics for Healthcare Professionals, written by Kathleen M. Young of Western Michigan University, serves as a textbook for healthcare professionals participating in informatics courses.VALUE OF INFORMATION The author contributes valuable points regarding the value of information in the field of healthcare. Information is derived from processed data. Information becomes knowledge and that knowledge is then utilized to make appropriate healthcare decisions. Healthcare professionals who can appropriately manage and process information will be the most successful in affecting patient outcomes. Information is not unique to healthcare and patient outcomes. Society, teaching/learning, and government are all affected by obtaining information, especially through the use of technology. Society has begun to change the way it communicates information by utilizing voice mail, e-mail, the World Wide Web, etc. that were not utilized in the past. Teaching and learning, such as that conducted in the Emory University Career MPH Program, are now conducting classes via distance learning tools. Technology has been utilized to further political agendas and propaganda, as well as provide an avenue for information in countries that seek to restrict information from its citizens. Young goes further to discuss the five rights of information. For information to be considered valuable, it must be the right information, given to the right person at the right time and right place. The right amount of information must also be given. Once information is considered valuable within healthcare, it drives reimbursement, quality assurance, accreditation processes, etc. However, the key importance of information in healthcare is to expand medical knowledge. Medical knowledge is primarily gained by evaluating information learned through research. Several types of research are employed to contribute to information, thereby increasing the body of medical knowledge. Applied research is aimed at solving specific problems. Clinical research examines outcomes related to services rendered. Administrative research focuses on all aspects of quality, accessibility and the appraisal of healthcare and its delivery. Finally, educational research investigates the effectiveness of various curricula. The trend in today's society is to translate the information gained through research into knowledge to improve clinical outcomes. Today, research knowledge is used to develop evidence-based guidelines for medical treatment, with the goal of reducing practice variability, thereby improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs.ORGANIZATION AND STORAGE OF INFORMATION According to the author, information is organized and stored by various mechanisms. Databases are one of the most common methods of storage, which now have the ability to store text, voice and even images. In healthcare, some popular databases are MEDLINE, CINAHL and

Having read Informatics for Healthcare Professionals, overall, I am moved to put forth efforts to improve gathering, organizing, storing and disseminating health information. I am particularly inspired by Young’s vision of universal access to both medical information and patient records, which would facilitate continuous health maintenance and care for all people, regardless of world location or medical history. In this paper, I will discuss Young’s points regarding information and knowledge, as well as how she affects my career. Once accurately gathered and stored, disseminated health information is extraordinarily valuable. One primary value of disseminated health information is improving patient outcomes. A provider, having access to the most current, evidence-based literature will better manage a patient’s condition, for example treating tonsillitis with antibiotics or other home remedies, than if she based decisions on personal inclination, which may be to recommend an unnecessary tonsillectomy. Similarly, a well human being in his 20’s, having access to information about basic health promotion, for example blood pressure controlling diets, will manage his health more efficiently than if he waited to hear it from a physician at age 50, after necessary triple bypass surgery. From a different perspective, changing how we achieve information, for example measuring blood glucose through an external, non-invasive biosensor rather than sticking the patient, would improve quality, convenience and therefore compliance of healthy lifestyles. Patient outcomes of improved dissemination of current, accurate health information also include reducing the number of emergency room visits. Finally, with improved informatics, especially accuracy of information, providers can reduce human suffering and length of hospital stay due to medication errors. Another primary value of improved health information is increasing time efficiency when documenting patient encounters. Young wrote that 38% of time with each patient is spent charting. In my experience, her percentage is low, but in either case, too much of the time allotted for patient care is spent on paperwork, rather than with the patient. In addition, paper charts decrease time efficiency because only one person can read or contribute to a paper chart at a time. Just as electronic journals have expedited learning among providers, implementing electronic patient records will increase efficiency of time, energy and ultimately improve patient care while reducing costs. Not only do I believe that having access to information should be a human right, but, as Young stated, information needs to occur as the right information, for the right people, at the right time and place and in the right amount. Moreover, information can have asymmetrical or symmetrical shapes. An example of asymmetrically shaped information is a physician knowing side effects of an antibiotic such as Erythromycin but failing to t

The book entitled Informatics for Healthcare Professionals by Kathleen M. Young, tackles the informatics of healthcare as a new specialty and disseminates the complex world of managing and processing information to support decision making in medical practice. An investigation of Medical Informatics for Healthcare Professionals reveals the circular continuum of data--to information--to knowledge as not only important, but also discusses the value, organization, storage, and exchange of information in a context that is easy to read and understand, even for the novice informatics student. Perhaps one of the greatest strengths of Young's book is her in-depth analysis of the evidence-based practice model, its benefits and weaknesses. The author describes the evidence-based medicine paradigm from beginning to end, giving the reader a comprehensive overview of how the decision-making structure of medical care has changed from the early 1980's to the year 2000. Young makes her opinion known that there is a vast crevasse between the benefits of the evidence-based model and the problems in a healthcare industry not so willing to embrace the notion of just how well information technology can benefit the entire healthcare spectrum. A powerful section of Young's book addresses the human side of informatics, or "human factors." The author focuses on the design, implementation, and process of information systems and how medical devices developed without the application of "human factors" incorporated into their structure, could lead to injuries and even death. Three of the most helpful sections for any healthcare professional designing, implementing and maintaining health information systems in Young's book are how to develop a pattern of change among healthcare professionals for facilitating acceptance, the information systems cycle, and information for managing health. Particularly valuable was the order in which information systems are developed. The reader is enticed into the actual process of information systems development from the initial idea, through the design phase, to development, and finally to implementation and rollout. The objectives of each phase are succinctly stated. The only variable missing was the same lengthy analysis as to why projects fail. Young stresses the importance of how healthcare professionals should own the information process to produce optimum outcomes. Incorporating up-to-date information technology into healthcare systems, she says, can only improve continuity of care, ensure efficient exchange of information, and reduce costs.Public Health professionals can glean a great deal of structural information in Young's book regarding the order of project development for information systems. As an overview, the book is a basic introduction to informatics and provides insight for further investigation into the obviously more complex data collection systems of the healthcare industry. Young's book continuously reinfor