The recurring health management problems of this organization can be sufficiently addressed through incorporation of more efficient health information systems. These are with regard to: Errors surrounding patient medication, misplaced lab results and delays in updating patient charts.
These kinds of errors can be effectively rectified by implementing a wireless information system. This is by virtue of the fact that wireless information systems entail the real time updating of patient charts, and results coming from critical departments, for instance, the laboratory. The Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre (CSMC) has successfully incorporated the wireless system, which entails the use of PDA-based technology for enabling remote and secure access of clinical data via their established wireless network referred to as the Palm Viewing System (Chen, Mendonca, McKnight, Stetson, Lei, & Cimino, 2004). Incomplete or delayedpatient information (physician).
Data synchronization effectively solves this problem encountered by physicians. In this method, the caregiver typically downloads patient information for say today’s number of outpatient visits into a docking device connected to the local area network of the hospital (Turisco and Case, 2001). In this manner, patient information is accessible in a timely and complete manner. Institutions that have installed this system include the University of South Carolina.
Duke Medical Centre, and University of Washington’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Chen, Mendonca, McKnight, Stetson, Lei, & Cimino, 2004).Errors in properly recording patient vitals by nursing assistants (nurses). The implementation of the Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) would serve to reduce incidents of wrong recording of patient vitals. According to Health Informatics online (2004), “A nurse swiping a chip reader past it from a few inches away ‘triggers’ the chip to unlock the patient’s clinical database.
” This system has been implemented in St.Vincent Hospital, a 338 bed facility located in Birmingham, which recently piloted an active-RFID tagging mechanism for patients visiting the cardiology unit (Health Informatics Online, 2005). Increase in the number of critical incidences related to incorrectly medicated patients (administration).This can be effectively corrected through implementation of electronic prescribing or e-prescribing in which prescriptions for each patient are automatically generated electronically through automatic data entry.
This promotes patient safety, formulary adherence, legible prescriptions, and better communication to pharmacies (Kilbridge and Gladysheva, 2001). An example of an institution that implemented the system is the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group located in Bethesda, MD using an EPad system (Kilbridge and Gladysheva, 2001).
