Literature Review

Literature Review Health Information System

Health Information System (HIS) refers computerized devices which are programmed, connected, and networked to capture data and reports analyzed statistics concerning health. Health information system was initially used by large organizations like Health Metrics Network (HMN) and World Health Organization (WHO). HIS is automated tasks involved in collecting, processing, reporting, as well as using health data and information to help in generating knowledge useful in decision making. Similarly, information gained from HIS helps in making policies, modifying health programs, and provides statistics about world and world influences causing by various health concerns (Abouzhar & Commar, 2008). Within the scope of the county, district, and national health center HIS may refer to automated computer systems that facilitate various health operations and transactions like capturing, storing, managing, and analyzing health information of an individual. HIS system should contain functions and operations that should assist health workers in providing information about diseases, preventions, medical drugs, and provide disease surveillance operations. Applications within HIS should include laboratory information systems, in and outpatient administration system, and health workers management system.

Major factors that lead to design and development of HIS in developed countries includes increased burden of chronic diseases. Another reason is due to the emergence of complex diseases that endangers human health. Increased costs of treating diseases due to expensive research, and medicine costs rising above Gross Domestic Product has influenced nations to develop a system that can promote sharing of health information. A disease like cancer requires long period of treatment with multiple health care providers in different settings. Consistent data and the information are required to facilitate referencing during consequent treatments (AIHW, 2003). Improving health sectors is a national policy and objective that enhance prevention and control of mortality rates. Medical errors and mistakes occurring as a result of human imperfections result to many people dying during the treatment process. According to a report released by National Institutes of medicine, a dynamic system is required to improve on health operations (Kohn et al., 2000). Due to various health related complications health investors and international humanitarians have developed systems that support sharing of data and information concerning clinical operations and information to aid decision making during treatment of diseases. Various systems developed includes, local electronic medical recording systems, and oriented health knowledge sharing the electronic device. The most improvement in health was the development of an instant messaging platform that could exchange data between patient and health attendant at local places. The messaging application could work on phone platforms to give help to sick people at home. The improvement led to increased human safety as well as low cost in treatments and curing of diseases (Hillestad, et al., 2005).

Developed countries like India, USA, Australia, and China support the development of HIS with a reason that the system minimizes expenditure. E systems deliver savings and promote the high quality standard of living. Australia promoted the development of health support network that was estimated to save the country from 8 to 10 billion dollars annually. E-health system was much help and significant in reducing many expenses in Australia (Hillestad, et al., 2005). Developed nations have gone to an extent of developing human cognitive health systems which are integrated into a mobile phone. USA health centers, both private and public, uses mobile phone technology to perform disease surveillance. Individuals require subscribing through his activated hospital and enjoy facilities like clinic day reminders, calling and messaging during emergencies.  Health attendants have realized easier and fast method of attending to their patients through having HIS system running within phone platforms. Diagnosing operations through clinical video conferencing has been enabled in most applications recently. Health centers can easily attend to their patients while at home through guiding them on medicines to take, receiving health updates as well as receiving descriptions on drugs prescriptions.  HIS systems in the current world have taken new routes by developing and designing open source technology that supports routine health information systems. Such technology has supported easy monitoring of patients a fact that has reduced congestion in health care centers. Technology advancement within current era of PDAs has improved efficiency and saved time in performing operations on patients.

Major ICT Improvement in HIS

1.    Development of mobile health support applications that optimize usage of scarce resources like hospital beds, and health attendants.

2.    HIS logistic and analytic tools help in distributing, storing, and allocating drugs and medical supplies. HIS helps in determining better methods of promoting medical, inventory records as well as guiding attendants on updating expiring drug substances. Losses incurred in disposing and destroying drugs due to expiring problems has been solved HIS systems.

3.    HIS helps in the management of inpatient and outpatient through the implementation of transfer systems that controls referrals and discharge of patients. HIS has facilitated continuity control of patients within health centers (Churchman, 1971).

4.    Through HIS individuals can easily gain access to routine health services by having improved extension of care unit at local and remote places through mobile applications. Making easy accessing of health information by wide range of clients (Wade, & Tavris, 1987)

5.      HIS mobile applications have promoted pathology, radiology, as well as pharmacy information that helped in managing health operations in remote areas while equipping health worker with appropriate information based on needs and demands of patients (Richardson, & Ice, 2010).

Causes of Failure of HIS Projects

Health Information systems are different from other IT systems due to their complexity, reliance on divergent professional information, deals with sensitive information about health, and hyper-turbulent operations (Al-Ahmad et al. 2009). Thus, HIS systems require high-level consideration before implementation into the project. Major challenges in development His systems includes

1.    Lack of availability of senior management sponsors to finance the project in research causes an internal and external barrier in implementing proposed health system (Dorsey, 2000).

2.    Lack of involving health practitioners as well as other end users (Elder & Clarke, 2007) leads to the development of the wrong system due to lack of needs and specifications that should guide the entire system development process. Developers may end up lacking enough information to facilitate the development of the acceptable system (Saade, Morin, & Thomas, 2012).

3.    Under-investment in hardware, software and tools required in developing the required system. Resource allocations may limit developer’s efforts due to lack of proper planning to affect required system approaches. The currently known information may change due to changes in technology thus affecting the development of desired system (Bukachi & Pakenham-Walsh 2007).   

4.    Health information systems are complex and complicated thus requiring elaborate and detailed skills, data and information to accomplish them. Health domain is wide and requires knowledge in medical science, elaborate research as well as dedicated time in practical experiences (Earth Institute 2010)

References

AbouZhar C and Commar (2008).Neglected Health Systems Research: Health Information

Systems. Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research: World Health Organization.

 Al-Ahmad A., Al-Fagih k.,  Khanfar k., Alsamara k.,  Abuleil S. & Abu-Salem H (2009). A

taxonomy of an IT project failure: Root causes. International Management Review 5(1):

93-104.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW](2003). The burden of disease and injury in

Australia 2003. Available at www.aihw.gov.au.      

Bukachi F. & N Pakenham-Walsh (2007). Information technology for health in developing

countries. Chest 132: 1624- 1630.

 Dorsey P. (2000). Top 10 Reasons Why Systems Projects Fail. Dulcian Incorporated. Available

at www.dulcian.com.

Churchman, C. W. (1971). The design of inquiring systems: Basic concepts of systems and

organizations. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Earth Institute (2010). Barriers and gaps affecting mHealth in low and middle income countries.

A policy white paper. mHealth Alliance: Washington DC.

Elder L. & Clarke M. (2007). Past, present and future: experiences and lessons from telehealth

projects. Open Medicine 1(3). Available at www.openmedicine.com.

Hillestad R.,  Bigelow,  Bower F., Girosi R., Meili R., Scoville & R Taylor (2005). Can

electronic medical record systems transform health care? Health Affairs 24(5): 1103-

1117.

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