Health Care Informatics & Patient Safety

Health care informatics is the idea that medical professionals can use technology to measure and evaluate patient safety. With the advent of electronic health records, patients may have better access to safer care.

History

• Doctors do not always have older medical records when treating a patient.

  Doctors rely on patient-provided information to take care of people. The records have existed on paper since doctors began treating patients, but there was no interactive access to all of a patient's records. When someone goes to the doctor, they are stressed out and generally are not good informants.

Considerations

• Medication errors are a crucial part of patient safety.

  Health informatics uses computers to track all medical records. With access to all of a patient's medical records, a doctor will be able to better diagnose health conditions. It is also important in preventing medication errors. Pediatrics may benefit the most since medication dosing for children is based on weight and could be more error-prone because of it.

Features

• Health informatics can provide information at the point of care.

  The point of health informatics is to provide critical information to a doctor as he is taking care of a patient, according to the National Quality Forum. This provides the doctor with a longitudinal history of the medical condition. Available records can also be used to prevent medication errors.

Significance

• Federal funding may be the key to universal acceptance of health informatics.

  Federal funding is being poured into the development of more interactive health records so that doctors and hospitals can prevent patient safety errors and keep patients healthier. The ability to measure health care from a systems level can aid in the prevention of patient safety errors. Informatics will not remove the essential need for good communication between patient and physician.

Warning

• Who can access the information may be a problem for some patients.

  People are concerned that a broader base of available health information could be used in a negative way if the information was accidentally leaked. A person could be denied insurance, for example, by universal access to the records. Employers might have access to the information as well.