A patient-centric health information management system ensures patient safety in several ways, including reducing medical errors, facilitating communication among healthcare providers, and providing access to health information. Throughout patient hospital stay, healthcare personnel is involved in patient care, which increases the risk of miscommunication error. Implementing this system will reduce errors by maintaining and compiling patients’ information into one single document that is easily accessible. It reduces medical errors by ensuring that physicians prescribe medications electronically and send them to the pharmacy. This system ensures the reduction of medical errors by using medical alerts, reminders, and red flags. It also ensures that patients access their health information. This will ensure that patients spot or report any misinformation in their prescription errors or inaccuracies in their medical history. Implementing this strategy reduces healthcare costs and saves money that could be used to carb the complications of medical errors that occur (Taylor et al., 2020). Besides, it lowers out-of-pocket costs required for medical products, increasing the probability of patients purchasing the products.
Implementation of a patient-centric approach is important because it increases engagement with all the involved stakeholders, such as healthcare providers and patients, leading to improved patient outcomes. It enhances understanding and knowledge among patients about their well-being, healthcare choices, and well-being, leading to the improvement of care and illness reduction. For example, during ward rounds, the patient is allowed to give their input about their health. The knowledge gained can lead to better care after the patients have been discharged, during hospital visits, secondary consults, and readmission reduction. Engagement and collaboration with patients, improve decision-making, enhancing healthcare decisions about patient medical conditions. For example, in hospitals, the patients are actively involved in the decision-making process that will impact their health (Barnett et al., 2016). The challenges facing implementing a patient-centric approach include inadequate healthcare insurance, high co-insurance, and appropriate design.
The patient-centric approach has several benefits, including improved patient outcomes, high and better patient satisfaction rates, and engagement, which allows the patient and healthcare provider to meet their goals. In addition, it improves the reputation of an organization and personnel satisfaction. Studies have shown that patient preferences and values are prioritized while they are more engaged in their treatment, leading to better outcomes. It fastens patient recovery and increases family and patient and healthcare team satisfaction. In improved patient satisfaction, patients align health services with their expectations (Sidot & Mark, 2017). Patient healthcare patient satisfaction by taking the desires and the health goals of patients into consideration and engaging them in their treatment.
Actively involve the patients in making their decisions involving their medical conditions. Through patient-centric approaches, shared decision-making, and improved patient health outcomes improve the reputation of the organizations. When healthcare personnel is focused on improving the outcomes of the patients increases their job satisfaction. The characteristics of patient-centric care include the ability to communicate immediately with the healthcare providers and patients effectively. It enables patients to access their healthcare information which is useful and important for them. It also provides patients with holistic care and treats them through individual and healthcare team coordination. For example, family members are facilitated and encouraged in healthcare settings. Sharing of information with the patients and family members is timely and full information that will help make an informed decision (Sidot & Mark, 2017). Besides, patient values, preferences, socio-economic conditions, and cultural conditions are taken into consideration.
The patient-centric approach strives to maximize patient comfort, value, safety, and support. Examples of patient-centric care include customized care, continuous relationships, and internal sharing of information. In patient-centric care, patient customization of internal values, informed choices, and medical needs. The significance of justification is that each patient is taken to be unique, with different needs and preferences that need to be met. For example, one patient relaxes through music therapy, but another patient may not want to have music while recovering. The second example is the promotion of continuous relationships whereby patient services are structured and organized for continuous care rather than random incidents of care (Pinsonneault et al., 2017). The healthcare providers provide patients with care and long-term healing and build relationships and collaborations.
Healthcare programs that focus on patients ensure patient consistency and quality of patient care at house and education of patients after discharge. When discharging patients, you need to give them valuable and understandable advice and information regarding dietary needs, restrictions, physical warnings, and medications. The third example includes the internal sharing of information whereby healthcare providers, insurance organizations, and medical facilities withhold information for themselves (Pinsonneault et al., 2017). Within the hospital facilities, information and knowledge are shared freely between healthcare providers, patients, and other parties authorized to access that information.
Three ways that increase patient access to quality care include easy access to medical information, standard care on online platforms, better equipment, medicine, and treatments. Those patients with questionable symptoms can easily get information regarding their health conditions on the internet. This is crucial in the provision of answers to individuals, especially when the physician is not available. Facilities have created online avenues and platforms whereby patients can communicate with the physician directly about their health condition. Technology has contributed positively through online portals, emails, and text messages whereby patients increase their access to medical records, improving patient monitoring, and convenience. Improved care is due to technological improvements in equipment, treatments, and medicine. The acquisition of better equipment enables healthcare providers to provide comprehensive care (Pinsonneault et al., 2017). Better and improved treatments improve the quality of life for patients with long-term illnesses.
There are several ways in which the health information management system has improved patient experience within healthcare facilities. These experiences include helping the patients to access their health information. Approximately 50% of healthcare providers are using paper works inpatient documentation. When health professionals switched to electronic files, new programs improved record-keeping and improved patient access to online records. The second way includes ensuring the safety of patient information. The healthcare informatics department holds the patients’ sensitive information and prescriptions responsible for keeping them private. It has improved patient communication with the healthcare staff, which improves patient outcomes. Sharing patient information is paramount in sharing patient information which will improve patient quality care. This system bridges the gap between hospital management and primary healthcare providers (Tiwari & Gor, 2016). This ensures that the patient information is not lost, mishandled, or rather misinterpreted.
Patient-centric healthcare principles are focused on improving the quality measures within the organization. Putting these principles into action within healthcare ensures that the patient-centric approach is aligned with the patient’s preferences, needs, and values. These principles include a patient-driven which comprises patient goals, priorities, and preferences drive is assessed and measured according to performance. It increases information transparency, flow, collaboration, responsibility, and customization of personal choice. It is important to note that patient-driven supports patient preferences in their management. Technological advancements have been integral in ensuring that patient-driven care is effective (Lamberti & Awatin, 2017). New tools have been used in care based on data analysis, interpretation, and prediction.
The second principle is holistic care, whereby measurements recognize that individual patient as a whole person, and considers their life, circumstance, experiences, and health histories outside and within the healthcare facilities. Healthcare professionals foster a patient relationship with healthcare to promote wellness and healing. The holistic principle is based on the patient’s social, biological, spiritual, and psychological aspects. The third principle is transparency, whereby patients have the same access to health information as other stakeholders. The same information is used to decide a patient medical condition. The transparency measurements ensure that healthcare providers give accurate information regarding out-of-pocket costs required for specific procedures. The performance of transparency ensures that healthcare providers make information available related to resource uses, clinical quality, and individuals’ experiences. This information will enhance the decision-making process among these patients. This improves healthcare competency, leading to better patient outcomes and improving patient confidentiality (Lamberti & Awatin, 2017). Access to health information helps families and patients to make informed decisions in the hospital, health plans, and clinical practices.
References
Barnett, N. L., Oboh, L., & Smith, K. (2016). Patient-centered management of polypharmacy: a process for practice. European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 23(2), 113-117. Web.
Lamberti, M. J., & Awatin, J. (2017). Mapping the landscape of patient-centric activities within clinical research. Clinical therapeutics, 39(11), 2196-2202. Web.
Pinsonneault, Alain; Addas, Shamel; Qian, Christina; Dakshinamoorthy, Vijay; Tamblyn & Robyn. (2017). Integrated health information technology and the quality of patient care: A natural experiment. Journal of Management Information Systems, 34(2), 457-486. 30p. Web.
Sidot & Mark. (2017). Transforming Medical Practices: Benefits of a Patient-Centric Approach. P1-6. 6p.
Taylor, K. I., Staunton, H., Lipsmeier, F., Nobbs, D., & Lindemann, M. (2020). Outcome measures based on digital health technology sensor data: data-and patient-centric approaches. npj Digital Medicine, 3(1), 1-8. Web.
Tiwari, P., & Gor, R. (2016). Health Management Information System (HIMS): An Overview. International Journal in Management & Social Science, 4(8), 106-110. Web.