What are Intelligence and Expert Systems?

Question 1 

From my personal experience, I would argue that the adoption of information technology has been somewhat turbulent due to increased resistance from healthcare professionals working in the health system. The adoption of information systems as part of the health care system has been met with notable resistance, as it seeks to change the way in which health professionals operate or undertake their respective duties (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2017). I was able to take note of the fact that although a majority of the health professionals believed in the fact that information technology would help improve patient care, lack of a clear understanding on how to use these systems defined their resistance. As a professional working in a healthcare environment, it was clear that most of the health professionals did not believe in the idea of using these systems for purposes of patient care.

From that perspective, I would argue that the most critical contributor to the problems associated with the adoption of information technology has been the lack of know-how among healthcare professionals. Additionally, lack of conformity to change can also be noted as a critical element of consideration contributing to the situation at hand in which majority of the health professionals find themselves in a situation where they tend to resist usage of information systems as part of patient care. The experience has been turbulent with sometimes causing pain considering that it has created the need for having to ensure that indeed every professional ought to conform to the usage of these systems. In some cases, this contributed to medical errors due to lack of a transparent approach from which to use information technology for healthcare service delivery.

Question 2 

From my analysis of the problem, as has been described in the previous section, I tend to believe that lack of enough information would be considered as the more significant problem, which must be dealt with adequately in a bid to promoting effective adoption of information technology. Kudyda (2016) takes note of the fact that usage of information systems is a process that requires health professionals to have that generalized understanding of how the systems operate, as well as, understand the importance of these systems. However, I took note of the fact that the majority of the health professionals exposed to information systems did not know how to use the systems. Additionally, these health professionals did not have information on how the systems would be able to define their capacities to improve patient care, which is one of their critical duties in health service delivery.

The outcome of this is that majority of these professionals rejected the idea of using these information systems arguing that they do not add value in their bid to delivering quality health care services. One of the key expectations that I had in my view of the information systems is that health professionals would go through training programs aimed at educating them on different aspects touching on the new systems. However, this was not the case considering that a significant number of health professionals lacked that basic understanding of what would be expected when using these information systems. Thus, this leads to my conclusion that indeed a lack of enough information is a more significant problem that health facilities ought to evaluate and find a lasting solution.

Question 3 

The statement is true, as it seeks to create a general reflection of how the society operates taking into account that it has worked towards creating economic inequality. That can be seen from some of the advanced countries around the world including China and the United States where the governments spend significant amounts of money in urban areas with the least number of people. In the United States, for example, health care costs are substantial in urban areas, which account for approximately 35% of the country's population. From that perspective, it is clear that indeed the government has played a vital role towards creating what would be considered as economic inequality considering that it does not balance costs and population. Instead, the focus is on ensuring that specific populations achieve better financial outcomes when compared to others, which is the case when dealing with health care.

The causes of these conditions have indeed taken years, which has resulted in a situation where this has been considered as a social norm regardless of the changes in government structure. In the example of the United States, this has been the case for a long time even though the country has experienced significant shifts concerning government structures. The statement also projects an accurate outcome by indicating that elimination of these hot spots may require substantial lifestyle changes, as well as, strong cultural reinforcements. While taking into account the fact that these hot spots have been considered as a social norm, elimination of the same may focus more on changing the lifestyles that people lead, as well as, ensuring people have what would be considered as a moral conviction towards promoting equality.

Question 4 

The possibility of resistance among the ‘older’ professionals may be high considering that the adoption of informatics is a new approach that seeks to define how they ought to deliver patient care. However, one key strategy that would work effectively would be promoting the engagement of the ‘older' professionals in every step of the designing and implementation of the process of the informatics. Kuipers, Higgs, Kickert, Tummers, Grandia, & Van der Voet (2014) argue that one of the critical approaches to take when dealing with change management is to ensure that every party or stakeholder affected by the change is included every step of the change implementation. In this case, the focus is on holding regular meetings with the professionals with the aim of ensuring that they understand the importance of having to adopt the new approaches. Additionally, this will also work as a practical approach from which to ensure that the leadership can answer any questions or respond to any queries that the professionals may have on the new system.

The focus of the leadership ought to be trying to create an approach from which to ensure that the ‘older' professionals understand the value of having to adopt the expected changes within the health institution. The outcome is that this would pave the way for more of these professionals to accept the impending changes. However, it would also be essential for the leadership to focus on ensuring that the ‘older’ professionals go through training to ensure that they understand how to use the new systems. One of the key challenges that may create the need for resistance among the ‘older’ professionals is lack of knowledge on how to use the new system. Thus, the leadership ought to consider this as a significant area of concern in its bid towards projecting the overall possibilities of success.

References

Kudyda, S. P. (2016). Improving Efficiency through Technology, Analytics, and Management . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (Taylor & Francis).

Kuipers, B. S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Summers, L., Grandia, J., & Van der Voet, J. (2014). The management of change in public organizations: A literature review.  Public administration ,  92 (1), 1-20.

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017).  Healthcare information systems: a practical approach for healthcare management . John Wiley & Sons.