Health information systems (his)

1. HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS (HIS) NKOSINATHI LUNGU

2. Health Information Systems (HIS) which is really where information systems meet healthcare to help optimise the acquisition, storage, retrieval and usage of information in health and biomedicine.

3. Health Information Systems have many advantages some of which include

4. Advantages of Health Information Systems Data Centralisation : HIS help to keep all data centralized bridging geographical barriers as any patients files can be accessed from any hospital or clinic provided they are connected to the central database.

5. Advantages of Health Information Systems Increased Efficiency : this is a result of easy accessibility of the patient’s information such as patient histories as there is no need to wait for the physical file to be brought. It also eliminates some clerical processes such appointment reminders and laboratory result notifications.

6. Advantages of Health Information Systems Security and Confidentiality : HIS help improve the security of patient health information as they usually require authentication to be accessed whereas anyone with access to the records room can access the patient’s physical files. There are also levels of access that is to say doctors and lab personal can see certain information like diagnostic test results while the cashiers can only have access to patient’s financial data.

7. Advantages of Health Information Systems Storage and Access Capabilities : With electronic files there is potential for increased storage capabilities and the files can be accessed by multiple sites at the same time.

8. Advantages of Health Information Systems Increased Accuracy : HIS can be built with the ability to detect and flag results that seem out of range or even life threatening drug combinations. The detecting of abnormal results can help with accuracy but does not completely do away with human error during data entry.

9. As with most things there is always the other side of the coin to consider and HIS are no exception they too have been found to have numerous disadvantages some which are:

10. Disadvantages of Health Information Systems Cost : The biggest problem associated with HIS is costs. HIS are quite pricy for many reasons there is the actual system which in most cases needs to be custom developed and this will be expensive, then there is the hardware that will be used to house the system that will also run up the cost. It doesn’t end there users will need to be trained on how to use the system and then there will still be maintenance costs.

11. Disadvantages of Health Information Systems Learning curve : Some people are resistant to change and even after the training they might be hesitant to use the new system as it might have a lot to learn

12. As can be seen HIS have lots of advantages any hospital, clinic or healthcare facility would benefit from them. The main downside to HIS seems to be the cost especially at a time when most health facilities re looking to trim their budgets implementing HIS seems like a huge expense but really when you look at all the benefits it is worth it.