Health Information Management Professionals Discussion

ByLeon Kiprotich Leon Updated on

Health Information Management Professionals Discussion

Health information management (HIM) encompasses a field that primarily relies on the combination of different aspects of information technology, business, and science to conduct, engage in the analysis, and secure data that is associated mainly with the prospects of patient care.

Given that the amounts of data that are currently under management within the healthcare sector have outgrown the measures used by medical institutions over the past few decades, HIM professionals have found a fundamental role in the daily operations and management of databases that aid in the storage of critical information that include the use of the Electronic Health Records with the intent of ensuring that the patient’s personal data remains protected.

Currently, given the significant growth of COVID-19, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) provides a collection of different medical systems, applications, and devices that play a critical role in the connection of health IT systems through the use of online computer systems and networks (Owusu Kwateng, Appiah & Atiemo 2019).

In other words, medical systems are currently connected through the use of Wi-Fi systems that allow the process of machine-to-machine communication, a factor that provides and forms the basis for the IoMT.  Besides this, IoMT systems and devices are equally linked to the cloud platforms that include the Amazon Web Services in which he captured patient’s data is stored and later analyzed through the systems.

Reports from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a current widespread reliance on the integration of the electronic health records (EHRs) that continues to create a significantly high demand for management and healthcare professionals to engage in the acquisition of knowledge required in the organization, management, and implementation of these health records across different areas of the health industry. Van Der Volgen & Zha (2019), therefore establishes that both technology and health jobs are currently in high demand, with medical records as well as health information professionals currently on a pedestal demand.

Currently, these professionals are primarily found within different settings that include the clinics, medical institutions, as well as in private practice—a fundamental factor that plays a critical role in the connection of health administrators, clinical team members, as well as other stakeholders en route towards the enhancement of the proper management and the protection of health information systems. Given this, nurses currently play a critical role in building interactions with the HIM professionals, as this remains the epicenter of healthcare.

In connection with the role of nurses in the implementation of HIM systems and engagement with the professionals, there is a need to underscore that the inclusions of the IoMT systems and devices are currently used in the clinical as well as administrative functions, a factor that provides the caregivers the opportunity to connect and communicate through the use of telehealth systems and models.

In this regard, nurses are currently tooled with the skills requires in the running of the point-to-care devices and systems that significantly differ from the traditional systems that relied on the provision of physical services as the nurses can currently be located remotely through the systems (Van Der Volgen & Zhao 2019).

An instance of this can be typified in the reliance on a cloud-based examination system and platform primarily designed for nurses and physicians with the intent of mainly assessing the patients at any point of care. On the other hand, ThinkLabs stethoscopes and the inclusion of telehealth patient examination systems and devices are currently used by nurses in the assessment of their patient’s lungs, heart, throat, and ears. Skin, as well as the abdomens, through the determination of the temperatures.

References

  • Owusu Kwateng, K., Appiah, C. & Atiemo, K. (2019). Adoption of health information systems: Health professional’s perspective. International Journal of Healthcare Management, pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2019.1672004
  • Van Der Volgen, J. & Zhao, S. (2019). Building A National Research Data Management Course for Health Information Professionals. Journal of eScience Librarianship, 8(1), e1160. DOI 10.7191/jeslib.2019.1160