Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies

The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies

Nursing informatics refer to data capture, storage, management, and sharing and plays a significant role in improving patient outcomes and care efficiencies. Bux et al (2017) asserted that utilization of health information technology by nurse informaticists has made great contributions in healthcare settings such as reduction of health related costs, ease of communication between patient and providers, increased patient engagement and interaction, improved information sharing and data retrieval, improved medication safety, and increased patient safety. In the contemporary world, healthcare organizations are expanding as well as faced with demand for timely and quality care from patients (Sewell, 2018). The organizations that are still using the traditional methods of data and information management have been experiencing challenges in trying to synchronize functions across various units. This paper seeks to propose a nursing informatics project to my current organization to improve patient outcomes. The essay will also provide a description of the project, impacted stakeholders, technologies required and project team to be incorporated Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies.

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 Description of the Proposed Project

The current organization I am working for is based in a rural setting and is experiencing challenges in providing efficient and quality care to patients. The health facility has been keeping manual records for their patients and with increasing number of patients, it has been a challenge to maintain proper patients’ records and doctors’ schedules (Handayani et al., 2017). In addition, the facility has experienced poor financial management due to use of manual records. Integration of a computerized hospital management system will help in dealing with the challenges being experienced and facilitate all operations in all departments. This will mean that a central hospital information management system will serve all the sections by synchronizing all the patient data through electronic medical records. This will help the health providers to share information and communicate with ease with other departments. Also, it will reduce the time taken to retrieve records thereby improving on efficiency. In the long run, the computerized system will enhance operational efficiency and financial management since it will incorporate an accounting system to facilitate billing, inventory control, and debt management (Handayani et al., 2017). The system will also provide financial reports to be used for policy making and management; evaluation of all expenditure; and tracking of occupancy of patients in the health facility. The implementation of a central health management system is expected to have a positive impact in the organization by improving operational efficiency, quality of care, patient safety and outcomes.

Stakeholders Impacted By This Project

Implementation of a computerized hospital management system will impact patients, healthcare providers, and the management. The system is expected to improve efficiency by fulfilling various functions such as data capturing, storing, sharing, and security. The patients will be impacted by the system as they will be engaging with various healthcare providers through patient portals. Additionally, patients will be able to access information concerning their personal health and status through the portal (Sweeney, 2017). In the recent times, patients are more informed and engaged as they seek information concerning the treatment and medical procedures they are undergoing Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies. Patients will be able to schedule appointments with their physicians through the portal. In the event a patient is unable to attend a scheduled appointment due to challenges such as financial constraints, they will be able to communicate through the portals and reschedule the appointments or receive referrals to other physicians within their vicinity.

The system will have an impact on the healthcare professionals who will capture patients’ data and key it in the system. For instance, at the triage, a nurse will collect vital information on a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and weight and feed the data in the system. The patient will then proceed to the physician who will record a patients’ symptoms, possible diagnosis, and recommend further tests in the laboratory, or medication to treat the condition (Handayani et al., 2017). Use of a computerized system help in reducing recording errors that arise from inputting information manually and reduce time spent in the health facility (Sweeney, 2017). The healthcare providers will have to be well versed with the system to be able to serve their clients effectively.  The management will also be affected by the project as they will fund the implementation and acquisition of the new system. When the system is up and running efficiently, the management will reap the benefits of generating high revenues. The system will improve efficiency and enable provision of quick services. Therefore, the health facility will be able to serve many clients compared to when they were using manual system resulting to an increase in revenues.

Patient Outcomes or Patient-Care Efficiencies the Project is aimed at Improving

The computerized hospital system management is expected to have a positive impact on patient care efficiencies and outcomes. The project will improve service delivery and operational efficiency in the health facility since there will be increased communication between care providers and patients, timely service delivery, prompt information sharing, and coordinated care services. The healthcare providers will be expected to be actively involved in the system implementation and development process to understand how to handle the computerized system. Once the healthcare professionals understand the system, they will be able to deliver healthcare services competently (Sweeney, 2017). The new system will facilitate the improvement in patient-care efficiencies as cases of missing records, duplicate records, and delays in preparing bills for received services will be eliminated. The automation of functions will improve management of data making staff to be at ease when delivering services (Sewell, 2018). Also, automation of operations will reduce delays experienced by patients that lead to income loss; improve patient safety and quality of care as medical errors will reduce; and improve patient outcomes as the services become patient-centric.

Technology Required to Implement the Project

The technology required implementing this project is hospital management software system. This technology is expected to facilitate operations and performance standards in all the hospital units. The software is expected to help the health facility to have a central point of control for all operations (Sewell, 2018). This will enhance the coordination of activities and operations in all the units. The different components in the software will provide diagnostic support where all the stakeholders including healthcare providers, patients, and management collaborate to improve patient safety and quality of care.

The Project Team and Their Roles

The hospital management system implementation will be headed by a project manager who will take the role of ensuring proper coordination and implementation of the system. The hospital director will ensure that the necessary finances and equipment needed for the project are availed on time. The project will have a nurse informaticist who is well versed with hospital management systems to ensure that all the necessary data is incorporated in the system  Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies. The informaticist will also interpret data analytics, identify errors and address quality issues, and conduct monitoring and evaluation to establish if the project outcomes are being met (Sewell, 2018). Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies The project will have a database specialist to ensure the hospital management databases are functioning as required. An infrastructure manager will be needed to help the project team in identifying project limitations, risks, and how to deal with them.

Conclusion

If the health facility implements the hospital management system, it will have an opportunity to improve on its operations and deal with the current challenges it is facing. By approving the proposal, the health facility leadership will have an opportunity of enhancing patient care, quality, and increase revenues. Also, use of computerized systems will make the organization to achieve a competitive edge in the current market of automated functions and modern technologies.

References

Bux, R., Ahmed, S., & Pathan, I. (2017). Implementation of hospital management information system (HMIS) in Muhammad Medical College Hospital (MMCH): Challenges & Opportunities for Management. Journal of Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas, 8(1), 8-11.

Handayani, P. W., Hidayanto, A. N., Pinem, A. A., Hapsari, I. C., Sandhyaduhita, P. I., & Budi, I. (2017). Acceptance model of a hospital information system. International journal of medical informatics, 99, 11-28.

Sewell, J. (2018). Informatics and Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. On-Line Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).

Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies

In the Discussion for this module, you considered the interaction of nurse informaticists with other specialists to ensure successful care. How is that success determined?

By Day 7 of Week 4