The Health information management field plays a significant role in promoting the proper use of patient data. The field is currently experiencing substantial changes both in size and format of data together with the development of technological tools and techniques. These changes also affect the practice of the health information management field in managing and facilitating the use of health data.
The present paper explores the two most important changes in health information management. These changes include health information governance and the privacy and security of health data.
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Health information governance supports the appropriate use of health data. It includes the metrics, standards, guidelines, roles, and practices that focus on supporting the appropriate use of information to enable an organization to reach its objectives (Dong & Keshavjee, 2016). Its main ideas include content and records management, the security and privacy of data, data governance, regulatory compliance, litigation keenness, risk management, and data storage.
Additionally, health information governance requires the concerned parties to make reliable assessments related to health information management, apply important practices when matching health information management activities with the objectives and strategies of the organization, and integrate concepts of data governance. Health information governance starts with data governance (Dong & Keshavjee, 2016). Controls and process that enhance the collection of accurate and reliable data underlie data governance. Data governance focuses on the quality of the data sources up to the use of the data. Data governance is the foundation of health information governance and if undertaken inappropriately, can significantly affect all health information governance aspects. Besides harnessing, analyzing, and supporting the usefulness of data, the data must also be controlled. Health information governance is a vital aspect that adds to the conventional strategies that health information management professionals take. Moreover, health information governance optimizes the ability to extract health data, promotes risk mitigation, and ensures that organizations meet compliance practices.
Another vital change affecting health information management concerns the privacy and security of health data. Health data is often private and sensitive and needs security and protection from illegal access. Privacy focuses on the right of patients to control the collection, use, or disclosure of their identifiable health information while security focuses on the administrative, technological, and physical measures required to protect identifiable health information (Bayer et al., 2015). The increasing levels of digitization have led authorities to review privacy regulations to deal with the issues that emerge from the advancement in technology such as the Internet of Things.
A significant amount of data is shifting to the online storage domain to enhance patient care. The downside of this is that the data is susceptible to attacks from different cyber threats like hackers who intend to steal and sale identifiable patient data found in digital medical records. Health care organizations have increasingly faced cyber-attacks and will continue being targeted if they do not implement adequate security measures (Bayer et al., 2015). It is, therefore, vital for professionals in the health care sector to implement technologies and strategies that enhance the security and privacy of patient data. Besides ultimately securing confidential patient data, health care providers must also establish trust with patients because patients will not support the idea of storing their private health data digitally if they are concerned with the safety of the data.
The Recommended Course of Action
Health information technology offers numerous benefits to providers and patients such as enhancing cost-effective access to reliable health data and reducing administrative costs of health care. Directors of medical records can capitalize on the benefits of Health Information Management by addressing and mitigating security and privacy issues related to medical records. They can achieve this by adopting different organizational and technical practices to safeguard health information. They should also cooperate with the concerned authorities to develop legal frameworks and adequate measures to ensure the safety of health information.
Information technology is increasingly becoming important in supporting health care quality and reducing health care costs. Properly implementing health information management practices such as health information governance and the privacy and security of patient data offer great potential for benefiting from health information technology.
References
Bayer, R., Santelli, J., & Klitzman, R. (2015). New Challenges for Electronic Health Records. JAMA , 313(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.15391
Dong, L., & Keshavjee, K. (2016). Why is Information Governance Important for Electronic Healthcare Systems? A Canadian Experience. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences , 2(5). https://doi.org/10.20474/jahss-2.5.1
