In recent times, health information systems have become critical moving parts in the provision of quality care. By the turn of the millennium, the application of IT within the care environment was sufficient to warrant broad-based decision-making support, inter-departmental support, data warehousing and analytics applications. This paper speaks on current knowledge concerning health information systems from an educational perspective.
In the learning environment, one of the experiences obtained deals with the historical use of data analytics and information systems within the care environment. Their application can be dated back to the 1960s. In this era, IT applications were very expensive, resulting in the connectivity of hospitals using mainframes with very expensive storage. Medicare and Medicaid were the main drivers of IT development in the health sector. In the next decade, the applications grew to include hospital-wide communication systems, added administrative systems and systems processing within departments. In this case, mainframes were no longer used; smaller computers were in play, resulting in expansion in financial and administrative analyses with select process automation within the clinical environment (Grandia, 2016).
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Later in the 1980s, DRG systems were developed. This means that networking was now possible by the use of personal computers. Storage was equally cheaper and independent software was available. This led to increased effectiveness of administrative and financial systems, managed care and integrated care systems. Lastly, the 1990s heading onto the millennium saw increased IT competition and integration, broadened computer distribution and more of everything. The resulting scenario comprised increased use of systems to make clinical decisions, broad operational application for developed systems and emerging data warehousing solutions. Additionally, data analytics became widely used (Grandia, 2016).
In conclusion, the educational interaction with health information systems has traced the history of the use of IT within the care environment, moving from disposable applications to a more integrated system requirement. With this knowledge, one has a better understanding of the transition of IT within the care environment.
References
Grandia, L. (2016). Healthcare Information Systems: A Look at the Past, Present, and Future . Retrieved November 1, 2017, from Health Catalyst: https://www.healthcatalyst.com/healthcare-information-systems-past-present-future
