Health Information Technology (HIT) defines the expertise and infrastructure used in the recording, analyzing, and the sharing of patient health data. These technologies include health record systems, personal health tools, and the communities to share and also discuss the information. The purpose of the health information technology is to ensure there is the provision of better healthcare for the patients and also help in the achievement of health equity.
One of the benefits of implementing of health information technology comes from enhanced productivity and long-term cost savings. Providers can reduce the time wasted and the resources used in a clinical setting. For example, the elimination of the paper helps in reducing the need for storage and the costs associated with transcription ( Lyles, Schillinger, & Sarkar, 2015) . The other benefit associated with the implementation of health information technology is the enhancement of the safety and quality of health-care providers. This implies that the number of malpractice claims made against the organization is bound to reduce because of the easier management of health records and patients’ needs.
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Health information technology also provides the benefit of facilitating the effective clinical decision making of the providers. For example, IT can help improve patient monitoring such as alerting the clinicians when some potential lab abnormalities may lead to serious health problems ( Lyles, Schillinger, & Sarkar, 2015) . Moreover, such technologies increase access to information. As a result, the providers can develop a common understanding of the patient conditions hence improving the quality of care provided to the care.
Various gaps in current organizations may reduce the possibility of healthcare providers taking a step towards implementation of information technology. The main gap is the skills needed in the deployment of HIT infrastructure. Some of the healthcare providers found in many organizations may not have the necessary skills needed to use information technology effectively. Therefore, some of the providers have to conduct training of their employees for them to understand the importance of information technology to the provision of quality care to patients.
Barriers
One of the barriers to the development and implementation of information technology relates to the high costs involved. Many healthcare providers are profit-oriented, and they tend to adopt policies geared towards cost-cutting in their service delivery. Therefore, most of these organizations would not welcome the idea of spending much on technology ( Lyles, Schillinger, & Sarkar, 2015) . The financial concerns arise from the fact that the implementation usually includes software, hardware, maintenance, and training of the clinicians working in the organization. The other major barrier is the concept of time taken to implement. Apart from the high costs involved in the design and implementation of health information technology, it also takes much time for the providers to implement and hence may have their operations affected as a result.
The industry also suffers from the lack of a skilled workforce who can use information technology for the betterment of service delivery within an organization. The management may be willing to apply information, but resistance may come from those who oppose the use of the technology especially if they lack skills to use them ( Lyles, Schillinger, & Sarkar, 2015) . The resistance as a result of lack of skills may mean that the organization may end up losing much money as a result of investing in something that may not have a positive outcome in its service delivery. This risk has to be considered before the implementation.
The other barrier encountered in the implementation of health information technology relates to the ever-evolving nature of the technology. With this problem, organizations will be required to train and retrain employees so that they can be at par with current industry trends. With the cost-saving tendencies, many firms are likely to slow their pace in adopting HIT. This also presents another challenge of possible abuse of information because the obsolete infrastructure is prone to attacks ( Sheikh, Sood, & Bates, 2015) . With stolen data, organizations may find themselves being sued because of the leaked patient information. Therefore, organizations will find it hard to adopt health information technologies because of the constant changes and the challenges associated with protecting patient information.
Recommendations
Healthcare providers should consult healthcare professionals early in the decision making process in order to ensure the selection of an electronic system that can have a positive impact on the organization. Key clinicians should be designated as the champions of the process, which increases the chances of the new program being accepted by all the employees working in the organization and all of them taking measures to align themselves with the new systems in place ( Sheikh, Sood, & Bates, 2015) . Change management should be supported as a strategy of bolstering the scale of the implementation process and minimizing the possible resistance from employees. It is based on the likelihood of the implementation process causing a modification of the software architecture and a change in medical practices. The challenge of infrastructure obsolesce can be solved through proper research and acquisition of the best equipment that can serve the organization for a long time. With proper servicing, the organization will not have to worry about frequent upgrades or the patient information being compromised.
Conclusion
Health Information Technology is important in the modern health care industry. For optimum customer satisfaction, managers in healthcare organizations should focus on increased quality and number of service providers via HIT. An organization is bound to receive financial benefits as a result of a reduction in inefficient processes. There is also a reduction in the number of malpractice claims that are recorded by the organization. Results are also released faster leading to a faster turnaround in audits as well as lab records. This saves the time needed for patients to receive quality care. With HIT, there is a higher satisfaction among consumers because of the speed at which they are served and the quality of care they receive.
References
Lyles, C., Schillinger, D., & Sarkar, U. (2015). Connecting the dots: health information technology expansion and health disparities. PLoS medicine , 12 (7), e1001852.
Sheikh, A., Sood, H. S., & Bates, D. W. (2015). Leveraging health information technology to achieve the “triple aim” of healthcare reform. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association , 22 (4), 849-856.
