Data Analytics Revolutionizing Health Informatics: Advantages and Challenges - Research Paper

Introduction

In the recent past, there has been an influx of multimodality due to the rapid growth of the role of data analytics in health informatics. As a result, an increase of interest in the generation of analytical data has been experienced. The increased rate of improvement in efficiency and power of computers, parallelization, and fast data storage has significantly contributed to the positive uptake of advanced technology in the health sector. With the advancement in technology, it is possible to automatically generate high-level features that are optimized and get interpretations from the input of raw data within the healthcare system to help in the creation of health informatics.

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Health informatics therefore, involves an intersection of computer science, information science, healthcare informatics as well as medical informatics. It incorporates the processes of handling healthcare information by acquiring, storing, retrieving and using such information for the purposes of enhancing collaboration among the healthcare providers in a society. It plays a significant role in pushing healthcare reforms. According to Ravi et al. (2016), health informatics is a specialization that is evolving to link communications, information technology, and healthcare to improve patients' care quality and safety.

According to Chiasson, Reddy, Kaplan, and Davidson (2007), health informatics combines information technology, computer science, and healthcare to improve care delivery to patients by streamlining medical quality assurance processes, improving efficiency and accuracy in practice and facility management and also to improve cost efficiency in healthcare delivery. Since the establishment of health informatics, the health sector has significantly improved its service delivery and administration.

This research, therefore, aims to establish, and discuss the many benefits of health informatics in administration and how they have significantly influenced the service delivery.

Discussion

Reduced Cost and Expenditure in Service Delivery

According to Imhoff (2002), healthcare is not only expensive but also wasteful, especially where health informatics and technological advancements are not applied. It is estimated that 50 percent of finances allocated for the health sector are usually spent on the traditional procedures of sharing the information which often involves repetition of the same processes and techniques. The frequently experienced errors and delays in care are some of the procedures that squander medical expenditures. When electronics are well connected and the correct systems installed, such delays are minimized and healthcare delivery enhanced and fastened. In cases of laboratory results, information is fond of delaying when traditional ways of sharing data are used. With health informatics, such data reach their destination as soon as they are released and thus improving and providing timely service delivery that reduces malpractices claims. Errors are reduced, communication increased, and efficiency driven in initial instances where obstruction and costly incompetence existed.

Service providers, as well as patients, have always complained of high cost and time wastage in healthcare facilities. In instances where multiple doctors see a patient without knowing the procedures that have already been performed, resources are wasted and service delivery slowed. When a facility uses traditional ways of information sharing, some of the patients do not know what they are tested for and the reasons behind the tests. Such patients entrust the doctors with the results and cost of medication they are told. As a result, patients might end up being overcharged and thus paying for the medication they ought not to have received. With the use of health informatics, doctors will not have to repeat the same procedures and thus cutting on cost and also such patients will know what they are tested for and pay the right amount without being exploited by malicious doctors. Therefore, with health informatics, medical professionals are in a position to access all the previous medical records of the patient that are online so that they are aware of the best procedures to apply based on the history of procedures of an individual. This will help the doctors to know the diagnosis and comments about the patient which as a result will save the patient from paying thousands of dollars, the healthcare providers as well as the insurance companies will also be saved from paying for unnecessary services.

Improved and Better Outcomes

Health informatics has for the past years influenced the improvement of outcome in health facilities with regards to service provision and administration. With the use of electronic medical records, there is increased safety and higher quality care since the health professionals efficiently coordinate to produce better diagnoses that are error-free and thus improving healthcare service delivery. With health informatics, nurses and other professionals can increase efficiency which as a result gives them enough time to spend with patients so that they get the needed information into details and thus improving outcomes. Manual jobs are automated and thus saving time and other resources that can be used in other areas to better outcomes and administration of the facility. When manual jobs are eliminated, the process and procedures are done in a systematic manner that makes faster delivery of services and thus improving outcome. The implementation of health informatics is significantly renovating healthcare since most of the changes will result in coordination, efficiency, and improved administration.

According to Sidorov (2006), the most significant importance of health informatics is improved and a better overall outcome. It helps health professionals to give safer and higher quality healthcare services to the patients since every member of the coordinated team has access to the database that host information of every patient. The ease at which they can access the information allows them to give a better diagnosis and prescribed the best medication with minimal errors and thus improving the outcomes and results of the patients after treatment.

Patients Involvement

Health informatics allow patients to be involved and participate in their health issues. It allows them to easily access their health history electronically which as a result motivates them to take seriously their role in improving their health. Some ailments need the patient's participation to allow for easy diagnosis and administration of the right medication by medical professionals. With the health informatics, when patients access their records and get familiar with their health needs, it becomes easier for medical practitioners to do follow-up and take the right measures and thus making administration easier. The facility does not have to spend many resources to get to the patient to prescribe simple medication when the doctor can tell and communicate to the patient online. This simplifies administration since resources are utilized correctly and efficiently.

When the patients have access to healthcare providers' portal, they can effectively learn more about their prognoses as well as their diagnoses. Through the portal, they can keep track of symptoms and also the medication they are taking. Their interaction with nurses and doctors is made easy through the portal and as a result, the administration is enhanced. With health informatics, patients' involvement makes them feel to be part of their healthcare providers.

Patients' involvement through health informatics enables them to know all the procedures they were taken through especially where general anesthesia is conducted. This provides room for assessment by the patients once they gain consciousness and makes them understand wherever they have concerns as well as the prescriptions they were given. The facility's work is made easy since the doctors do not need to explain themselves so much to the patient. When patients have access to the portals of their service providers, they get the opportunity to learn more about healthy living without the facility having to do campaigns and community education. Access to health records is also vital to family members since they can get information that the patient might have forgotten.

Improvement of Skills and Sharing of Knowledge

Health informatics has a significant impact on skill improvement and knowledge sharing among medical professionals. It has enhanced sharing of patient information such as therapies, medication, tests, illnesses, diagnosis and other pertinent information that has widened the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals within various facilities. The personnel has learned and sharpened their skills beyond their areas of specialization which as a result influences administration since the facilities do not have to hire more professionals in particular areas due to improved proficiency and skills by the present personnel.

With the shared knowledge, the medical professionals have the opportunity to collectively conduct research about a particular ailment, medication, or treatment so that best outcomes are established. The frequent passing of knowledge between patients and care providers positively affects the practice of medicine since it gets better each time such knowledge is shared. The sharing of knowledge helps every individual within the chain of care ranging from physicians and administrators to patients and pharmacists.

Impersonation of Healthcare

With health informatics, some aspects of care provision can be impersonalized such that, a doctor's presence is not needed to accomplish certain tasks. Through health informatics, the patient's basic information can be known without necessarily meeting the doctor physically but instead filling an online form with the necessary data and algorithms. This would reduce time wastage and resources that would have been spent meeting the doctor. The resources are diverted to accomplish more sensitive tasks in the care provision and hence improving administration. When data regarding a patient is gathered, algorithms are used in sorting it so that the type of problem and the care to be offered is determined. This will reduce the intended queues that patients have to make to access such basic services. As a result, the queuing system and administration are improved.

Increased Coordination

In recent years, healthcare has been becoming more specialized since many patients receive care from various individuals whenever they visit a hospital or care providers. This is due to complications and increased need for particular cares that were traditionally handled differently. As a result, there is increased coordination between different specialist within the hospitals since each care relates to the others in one way or the other. The coordination is made achievable by health informatics and it enhances good relation between the specialists and thus improving service delivery.

Blood levels, pharmaceutical concerns, physical therapy, nutrition, discharge instructions, X-rays, among others would need different attention and conversations with various specialists. If this was to happen, a problem would arise and healthcare would not be effectively offered. Through health informatics, this coordination makes it easier for a patient to access the services.

Conclusion

The recent growth and improvement in computer power and storage speed have seen most healthcare providers implement health informatics in the provision of care services to patients so that they can enhance their administration. Health informatics involves the intersection of information technology, computer science, and healthcare. Implem...