How Electronic Sharing of Health Information Affect the Quality of Health Care - Research Paper Example

? How Electronic Sharing Of Health Information Affect the Quality of Health Care Electronic sharing of information is increasingly becoming a common practice among health care practitioners and hospitals by the day. This proposal will focus on how Electronic Sharing Of Health Information Affect the Quality of Health Care. How Electronic Sharing Of Health Information Affect the Quality of Health Care Introduction In the deliberations of a report produced by the Institute of Medicines in 2001, it was noted that the increasing use of the World Wide Web and the Internet is changing how people view health care deliver services. Among the recommendations made in the report was the suggestion that medical access should be made accessible and be provided over both the internet and over the telephone, in addition to more traditional methods of health care such as personal visits (Grossman, et al., 2012). Electronic sharing of information is increasingly becoming a common practice among health care practitioners and hospitals by the day. In electronic data sharing of patient information, medical data from different patients is stored on centralized databases after obtaining permission from the patient. This data normally includes details on a patient’s medical treatment, medications, laboratory results personal information and health history (Gadd, et al., 2011). The Health Information Exchange is developed at both the local and national levels and allows both the patient and the health provider to be able to access the patient’s health records and information easily regardless of their current location (Wright, et al., 2010). Because of potential adverse effects of inaccurate information being fed into the Health Information Exchange system, the Food and Drugs Administration has developed a set of regulations that will help to administrate the medical device data systems that are intended to be used in the transfer, storage, conversion and display of a patient’s health data (GAO, 2010). The development of Personally Controlled Health Records (PCHR) is seen as a major development in the field of health information technologies. The system will help in the engagement of more and more customers in pubic health research. Consumer interest in the use of PHRs is increasingly growing, and this has been attributed to the escalating figure of employers who are demanding for the PHRs to be included in their company’s health plan packages and the efforts of both Google and Microsoft in the promotion of PHRs (GAO, 2010). Data in these databases is commonly managed by non-profit making health organizations like the MidSouth eHealth Alliance which is tasked with the responsibility of managing and governing health in the Tennessee, Memphis, USA, and metropolitan area (Wright, et al., 2010). A group of affiliated hospitals provide pathology reports, laboratory data, summary notes, radiographic reports, hospital discharge summary notes and other relevant administrative and clinical documents. After the compilation of the data, clinicians had access to millions of records on patients, laboratory tests, chief complaints and a myriad of other documents (Grossman, et al., 2012). Patients are normally able to view their medical information history as well as being able to limit and restrict access to their medical files. Various governments like the Swiss and U.S. governments are finding system to be so useful such that they are now opting to aid in the funding of the program with the help of a few acts of parliament. Importance of This Research Proposal The findings of this research proposal will seek to help physicians, better understand the importance and benefits of electronic health information sharing. The patients will also be encouraged to volunteer having their medical history and details uploaded to the system so for them to fully benefit from the system. Pharmacists and hospitals will also be able to use the research in determining, creating and implementing policies that will help them benefit from the use of the system. Problem Statement Though electronic sharing of health information is increasingly being adopted by health facilities and practitioners by the day, the system has some drawbacks which if not addressed, could potentially grow to become detrimental to the use of the system. Chief among the problems facing the system is it’s financing, with most doctors and system users finding that they are unable and often unwilling to pay monthly premiums so as to be permitted to access to the system (Frisse, et al., 2012).. The system needs funding to enable it to run and function optimally. This paper will seek to establish a mode of financing that will be acceptable to the system users. The system also suffers from a high likelihood of misuse of the personal health information by individuals with access to the system (Hincapie, et al., 2011). This can in the form of illegal practices such as health identity theft and discriminatory employment practices. This paper will seek to establish a way of curbing the vice and ensure the integrity of all the patient information that is uploaded into the system. There has also been a challenge with creating and implementing a system that not only facilitate the effective sharing of data, but also goes a further step in ensuring that there is a proper disclosure and use of a patient’s personal health information (Gadd, et al., 2011). How Does the Electronic Sharing of Information Affect the Quality of Heath Care? Health service providers have been able to save a lot of money with the use of the electronic sharing of health information because of the early detection of disease outbreaks some section of the country where the system was operational (Hincapie, et al., 2011). Doctors are also better able to better analyze and diagnose a patient’s medical history as the complete medical history of a patient is made available to them with the press of a button. This makes it easy for a doctor to come up to speed with regards to their patients, especially if the patient happens to be a new patient. The electronic sharing of patient information has also resulted in better quality health care for patients and a decrease of patient diagnostic procedures as the existing data is made readily available to the attending doctor (Gadd, et al., 2011). The system is also credited with general prevention of medical errors. The real-time support assistance afforded by the use of Health Information Interchange is crucial to both doctors and patients as it can help save a patient’s life in cases where speed is of the essence if the patient’s life is to be saved (Hincapie, et al., 2011). Electronic transmission of both renewals and new prescriptions from the doctor to the pharmacy staff has helped minimize the interruptions that were associated from the use of fax and phone communications. The hospital pharmaceutical staff also ends up saving substantial amount of time because they are not required to process the prescriptions manually. This also has the benefit of lowering the number and rate of prescription errors committed. The system has also benefited hospital administration with the reduced costs it offers coupled with the enhanced efficiency of administrative functions. Hypothesis After gathering studying various literatures from previous works of other authors, this paper hypothesizes that Electronic Exchange of Health Information using an Electronic Health Record will greatly improve preventive care and chronic disease management Methodology The study will be carried out using the descriptive, cross-sectional survey design. The design will involve collecting data on a sample or cross-section of the respondents who will be selected to represent patients and doctors. This study design will aim at investigating the problem by use of questionnaires, observation, and interview schedules. The descriptive survey design will be appropriate because it does not deal with a single case but rather several cases sampled from the target population (Bryman & Bell, 2003). This kind of study is concerned with gathering facts and/or figures rather than the manipulation of variables. In this respect, from the representative sample population will use the frequency or number of answers to the same question, hence the survey design. Sample design and procedure The study will use stratified random sampling. Investigator finds this sampling procedure because the target respondents will be divided into two strata: patients and doctors. Stratified sampling of these respondents will be most appropriate. This argument is supported by the assertion that if the population from which the sample is obtained is not from uniform, therefore, stratified sampling technique will be applied to obtain a representative sample. Sample Size The researcher will randomly sample a total of 16 doctors and 50 doctors. From each sampled group, stratified sampling will be used in each to get two strata representing male and female. Purposive sampling will be done on both doctors and patients. Data Collection Instruments and Procedures This study needs first hand information, which will be received from respondents in the field through interviews, observation and questionnaires. Data collection methods will involve operationalising the research design into instruments of data collection with a view to collecting data in order to meet the research objectives (Bryman & Bell, 2003). They included interviews, questionnaires, census, sampling, observations, internet and review of documents. Data Analysis Procedure Data editing will examine the collected new data to detect errors and omissions for correction to ensure accuracy and consistency. Data coding will be assigned symbols to answers to classify or categorize responses. Data will be coded and recorded on tally sheet after the systematic analysis of each individual variable for measuring completeness; occurrence and clarity because row data collected from the field through primary data are never well organized for interpretation. Data classification will reduce data into homogeneous groups or attributes for getting meaningful relationships. Tabulation will arrange data into concise and logical order in a procedure referred to as tabulation through columns and rows. The two statistical methods; descriptive and inferential analysis will be applied to measure and determine the relationship that exists among the collected data. Percentages descriptive analysis and coefficient of correlation will used to help to understand and interpret variables, distributions size, and relationship. Ethical Issues For the purpose, of this study, permission will first be sought from relevant authorities, and a letter granted to allow carrying out the research. Furthermore, the purpose of the study will be explained to the respondents and assure them of confidentiality of their responses and identities. Conclusion In electronic data sharing of patient information, medical data from different patients is stored on centralized databases after obtaining permission from the patient. The development of Personally Controlled Health Records (PCHR) is seen as a major development in the field of health information technologies. Patients are normally able to view their medical information history as well as being able to limit and restrict access to their medical files. Patient and doctors will benefit from the findings of this research. Problems facing the system involve its financing. There is also a high likelihood of misuse of the personal health information by individuals with access to the system. References: Bryman, A & Bell, E (2003). Business Research Methods. New York: Oxford University Press. Frisse, M. E., et al., (2012). The financial impact of health information exchange on emergency department care. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 19:328-333. Gadd, C. S., et al., (2011). User perspectives on the usability of a regional health information exchange. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 18:711-716. GAO. (2010). Electronic personal health information exchange: United States Government Accountability Office. Grossman, J. M., et al., (2012). Transmitting and processing electronic prescriptions: experiences of physician practices and pharmaci. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 19:353-359. Hincapie, A. L., et al., (2011). Physicians’ opinions of a health information exchange. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 18:60-65. Wright, A., et al., (2010). Physician attitudes toward health information exchange: results of a statewide survey. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 17:66–70. Read More