Health Informatics Paper
Health Informatics Paper
Shavonne S. Rabb
HCS/500
August 20, 2012
Tonya Cheek, instructor
Health Informatics Paper
Health Informatics combines the world of health care, business, and information technology. Combining these worlds help to ensure that patients receive higher quality of care when obtaining treatment from health care professionals. In this paper, the history of health informatics will be discussed. The discussion will include the major milestones most important in the creation and evolution of health informatics. The paper will also include five major milestones in health informatics and the description of each.
Most Important Milestones in the Creation and Evolution of Health Informatics There are several milestones that helped in the creation and evolution of health informatics. Those milestones are computers and electronic medical records. “Initially computer use in health care was confined to the computer’s primary function, that of calculating, and did not foresee its impact on clinical practice and health care,” (Marini, 2005, p. 1). With the invention of computers, staff can check for prescriptions needed, get assistance in surgery, check on patient records, and for accessing patient data information. What one has to understand is that without being able to check a patients’ data information, one will not know exactly what the patient has been treated for before or if he or she has any existing illnesses. Before computers, patient records were kept on paper in a filing cabinet or in storage. This leads one to the invention of Electronic Medical Records. “EHRs are much more than computer-based versions of paper medical records or stand-alone data repositories, and their successful implementation is not without challenges,” (Detmer, 2009, p. 1). Electronic medical records came along when records were hard to keep and gave health care professionals an easier way to maintain patient records. With electronic medical records in place, it is
Shavonne S. Rabb
HCS/500
August 20, 2012
Tonya Cheek, instructor
Health Informatics Paper
Health Informatics combines the world of health care, business, and information technology. Combining these worlds help to ensure that patients receive higher quality of care when obtaining treatment from health care professionals. In this paper, the history of health informatics will be discussed. The discussion will include the major milestones most important in the creation and evolution of health informatics. The paper will also include five major milestones in health informatics and the description of each.
Most Important Milestones in the Creation and Evolution of Health Informatics There are several milestones that helped in the creation and evolution of health informatics. Those milestones are computers and electronic medical records. “Initially computer use in health care was confined to the computer’s primary function, that of calculating, and did not foresee its impact on clinical practice and health care,” (Marini, 2005, p. 1). With the invention of computers, staff can check for prescriptions needed, get assistance in surgery, check on patient records, and for accessing patient data information. What one has to understand is that without being able to check a patients’ data information, one will not know exactly what the patient has been treated for before or if he or she has any existing illnesses. Before computers, patient records were kept on paper in a filing cabinet or in storage. This leads one to the invention of Electronic Medical Records. “EHRs are much more than computer-based versions of paper medical records or stand-alone data repositories, and their successful implementation is not without challenges,” (Detmer, 2009, p. 1). Electronic medical records came along when records were hard to keep and gave health care professionals an easier way to maintain patient records. With electronic medical records in place, it is