Distinguishing between data sets
Data sets are a defined set of information that has been collected from recorded data from health care centers. This information is recorded either in health care records or after research by organizations. It is then structured, labeled, and classified. From this, medical practitioners and caregivers can make informed decisions from studying of the information (Provost & Murray, 2011). All these data sets have common components. Firstly, static data such a person’s date of birth is recorded. This information does not change. Dynamic data are also recorded, which often fluctuates within a day, according to a patient’s progress. It includes levels of temperature of a patient or even their blood pressure. Other important pieces of information include how and when the particular ailment occurred and the medical treatment offered to the patient. Data sets are distinguished according to the information contained in each (Tavana, Ghapanchi, & Talaei-Khoei, 2014). For instance, there are data sets concerning mental health, casualties, and even family health.
Types of data sets in health care
There are several data sets in the health care system. Each data set is useful in varied medical conditions
Acute care
Community information is one type of data set found in this medical field. This entails information from records of patients who have visited any community health facility (Provost & Murray, 2011). After analysis of this information, conclusions are drawn based on the rates of occurrences of certain ailments and the treatment administered. Patients in acute care require intensified and delicate care. Therefore, information from date sets should not be exclusively used as each patient has their own different symptoms and extent of injury.
Ambulatory Care
The efficiency of medical providers starts way off from the initial stages of contact with the patient, which in most cases involve the ambulatory services. Accident and emergency data sets are therefore recorded from these emergency responses. This kind of data is useful in providing better and efficient ambulatory services in the future. It, however, has the disadvantage that in most cases, these emergency cases are different in nature and, therefore, the same kind of information cannot be applied to all situations.
Long-term Care
Rehabilitation for drug and other substances takes quite a longer duration than that required for other patients and, therefore, data collected in this field needs to be accurate and compiled over a longer period for efficiency. Drug abuse data set is essential in the treatment of recovering addicts as it provides information on the likely challenges to be experienced by recovering addicts and help them recover. However, such information can be disadvantageous in use as each recovering individual has their own different rates of recovery.
Home health care in hospice
Behavioral Risk Factor data set entails a collection of information concerning the behaviors amongst adults that pose a health problem to themselves and others in their surroundings. This information is especially important to those in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as it is then easy to predict likely occurrences of harmful behavioral tendencies in adults, and thereby put in place measures to prevent any casualties or fatalities. This kind of data is important especially in determining the likely behavior of patients in home health care such as those in homes for the elderly.
Maternity and Children’s data are also collected and compiled over a certain period of time with conclusions being made that assist in providing better and high-quality maternity services for both mother and child. This data set mostly entails a comparison of certain situations and conditions of pregnancy and further helps to prevent future complications in mothers. This kind of information is therefore collected in family health clinics. Maternity and Children’s data set is important even after both the mother and child have left the hospital and are being taken care of at home.
Uses of the different data sets
Each of these data sets is important in the medical field as it first raises awareness of the likely problems and complications that an individual is likely to face while in a certain condition. With this knowledge, then the medical practitioner can assist a patient by taking necessary precautions like providing preventive vaccines or medication. Maternity and children’s data set is important in predetermining likely problems that mothers experience and also in assisting them in overcoming these problems.
Apart from this, one of the greatest uses of these data sets is to introduce quality of information in the medical field and to promote technological advancement in the healthcare sector of the economy. The data collected and contained in these data sets is useful in fostering technologies such as mobile health services, electronic health records (EHR’s), and Health Information Exchanges (HIE’s) (Tavana et al., 2014). Accurate and quality information is necessary for arriving at accurate health decisions. The advancement in technology has also been greatly helpful in providing faster and more efficient means of accessing information and this eventually results to better and high-quality medical services.
References
Provost, L. P., & Murray, S. K. (2011). The Health Care Data Guide: Learning from Data for Improvement. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Tavana, M., Ghapanchi, A. S., & Talaei-Khoei, A. (Eds.). (2014). Healthcare Informatics and Analytics: Emerging Issues and Trends: Emerging Issues and Trends. Hershey, PA: IGI Global,
