Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care Connie Chrisman CAHS 300 Spring 2013

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

Abstract Communication is essential between patients and providers. When communication is blocked or insufficient, medical errors can occur. Technology is being viewed as the answer to resolving and improving communication by reducing medical errors, researching evidence based practices through data extraction, and so on. The adoption and merging of technology and healthcare has lead to the inclusion of informatics. Informatics is the specialty that utilizes computer generated information to improve the quality of patient-centered care. However, informatics research is revealing benefits and drawbacks to utilizing technology to improve patient-centered care.

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

I. Summary Todays medical community is improving patient-centered care through advances in technology. It is the belief that incorporating computer technology in the medical field will resolve medical errors and improve patient-center care outcomes. Along with this incorporation, new terminology, professions, and practices have evolved with an overlying term known as informatics. The term informatics was first used in a Russian document in 1968 (Bummel and Musen, 1997). The definition of informatics is, the science and art of turning data into information (Hebda and Czar, 2013). Since its incorporation into healthcare other more defined uses and terminology have evolved, such as; medical informatics, health informatics, bioinformatics, consumer health informatics, dental informatics, clinical health informatics, public health informatics, and nursing informatics. This list provides a brief inclination of how evolved and entwined informatics presence has become in healthcare. It is due to the vast uses and interpretations of informatics that has created a necessity to educate healthcare students and providers of it uses, benefits, and possible drawbacks in relation to patient-centered care. As stated, the role of informatics in patient-centered care is defined in many different ways. What is the definition of patient-centered care? Unfortunately there are many definitions. A brief definition is, care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values (Snyder, 2011). Another lengthened definition is, Care that is truly patientcenteredmakes the patient and their loved ones an integral part of the care team who collaborate with healthcare professionals in making clinical decisionsputs responsibility for important aspects of self-care and monitoring in patients hands along with the tools and support they need to carry out that responsibility. Patient-centered care ensures that transitions between providers, departments, and health care settings are respectful, coordinated, and

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

efficient (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2001). These are just two definitions. What makes anyone more correct than the other? What does this say about the healthcare community if they cannot agree on a definition of patient-centered care? Would one internationally accepted definition improve patient-care and provide an initial stepping stone from where patient-centered care starts? Electronic Health Records (EHR) are replacing a vanishing practice of paper documentation for those institutions that are able to afford the huge costs that come with electronics. Today, most offices, clinics, and hospitals still document on paper due to an inability to afford the initial startup capital needed to switch to electronic health record documentation. Facilities such as these continue to struggle with patient care errors due to documentation omissions, poor handwriting, and staff resistance to improved safety measures. However, even when electronic health record technology is utilized errors are still noted in some instances due to substandard electronic education practices for providers and staff, providers relying on nursing to recognize order entry errors, and staff reluctance to change cultural practices. Utilizing electronic health records allows patients to be more involved in their care which assists in eliminating errors. A few improvements noted are reductions in medication errors, improved patient education, and clinician and patient documentation confirmation due to enhanced communication technology. Another aspect of informatics is Personal Health Records (PHR). PHRs are an individuals health record which electronically stores a patients personal medical history including diagnosis, medications, procedures, therapies, and so on. There are two types

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

of PHRs: cloud-based standalone which include companies such as Goggle or Microsoft or tethered PHRs which connect to a provider or organizations EHR (Snyder, 2011). Currently, PHRs are not widely used but is slowly gaining momentum into mainstream patient-centered care practices. Through information technology patients now have the convenience of communicating with their health care providers through various electronic routes. One avenue, web portals which allow patients to reorder prescriptions, enhances communications with their providers, and look up test results. Patient education and support services are another benefit of utilizing health care informatics and improve patient-centered care. This allows automated messaging to remind patients of appointments, diagnosis specific symptoms to watch for and when to call their provider. And lets not forget the added benefit in turning all the data collected into usable information to advance patient-centered outcomes. For instance, research can be conducted on this information to improve patient-centered care, set standards for evidence based practices, reduce expenditures at the individual level, and enhance staffing productivity to name a few possibilities. Of course with positives come negatives. Advances in communications now allow patients to have quick access to an unimaginable amount of healthcare advice. The back fall associated with this; patients are not educated to know what professional organizations to seek information from or how to correctly interpret and constructively utilize the information. This creates an education barrier for providers due to instilling doubt in patients asking themselves, does the provider knows what he/she is talking about if the information doesnt correlate?

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

Additionally, social media has created unethical access to providers and patients lives through Facebook or Twitter accounts. This form of communication should not be encouraged between care giver and patients. In 2010 the American Medical Association issued a policy statement on professionalism in the use of social media (Snyder, 2011). II. How is this related to our course? The role of the Health Information Systems class is to provide a basic understanding of informatics, technology, terminology, software, and applications and how these relate to the healthcare profession. Having a rudimentary understanding of what informatics encompasses and how it applies to todays healthcare and patient-centered care needs should be viewed as a primary skill just as learning anatomy. The topic of the paper is The role of informatics in promoting patient-centered care is what informatics in healthcare encompasses through improved communication, technology, and data collection. Electronic health records (EHR) are essentially individualized patients electronic documentation. Numerous EHR systems have been developed along with an abundance of terminology to describe them, such as; electronic medical record (EMR), electronic patient record (EPR), and computer-based patient record (CPR) are just a few. These systems are used to improve patient safety by eliminating or at least minimizing medical errors and collecting information as a means to reduce and improve outcomes. Overall, informatics is still in its infancy in relation to healthcare. It will continue to a primary focus within healthcare especially now that the federal government has expanded its authority within every facet of the healthcare industry. This doesnt just relate to our course but is what makes the topic vitally valuable for all healthcare professional practicing medicine today.

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

III. Significance of topic to health informatics The topic of the article is, The role of informatics in promoting patient-centered care. The article is highly significant to health informatics. It discusses and attempts to define patientcentered care, advances in health information technology, informs of EHRs, PHRs, and improvements in patient provider communications, ways to utilize data to improve quality of care, and reduce health care errors. It equally identifies the harmful aspects of patients having that much access to providers and viscera. My Recommendations Since this class is considered a basic health informatics class, there were times when it felt the article was presented at a higher collegial level than a student at this level would fully understand. Based on that, this would not be an article to recommend to a beginning informatics student. The first recommendation would be to bring together a group of healthcare professionals that represent all facets of healthcare to define what patient-centered care truly is. It is not believed that the quality of healthcare can truly be improved if we all do not agree on what it is to begin with. Its also suggested the definition not be so grand that it would be impossible to integrate all its defined values. To me this would make the definition useless. The information in the article incited cancer patients and informatics. I dont feel it was necessary to solely define one diagnosis. This distracted from the topic and flow of the article when it would point out ways certain aspects of informatics had not yet been instituted within the cancer patient care environment. For a more advanced informatics student, this article would be a beneficial read.

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

Additionally, it is highly recommended not to share or encourage personal information sharing between clinicians and patients. Professionally, providers should not be soliciting friend requests or encouraging tweets to and from hospital staff or patients. IV. Conclusion A fundamental advancement in patient-centered care now requires healthcare professionals to adapt, change, and accept information-based technologies as an essential function to improve patient outcomes. Notable changes include; EHRs, PHRs, and increased access provider access. The prominent benefits allow for more patient participation with their healthcare, the sharing of patient information, the collection of data, and research that improves patient care outcomes. Finally, Snyder (2011) stated it well, the greatest challenge for all is to find and apply information that is high-quality and helpful from the vast array of other information that is now available and use it to improve patient care while preserving the humanity of this interaction.

Running head: The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care

Reference Heda, T, Czar, P, 2013. Handbook of informatics for nurses and healthcare professionals. Snyder, C., Wu, A., Miller, R., et al, 2011. The role of informatics in promoting patient-centered care.