Informatics
The health profession continuously evolves through time. It entails the use of technology in order to deliver the quality service that the clients deserve. As such, informatics could be of great help for improving the health profession. The Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing (2016) defines “the study and application of information technology to the arts, science and professions, and to its use in organizations and society at large” (IUSIC, 2016). As for science, informatics involves the engineering of information systems and the practice of processing data and information. It studies human interaction with information, as well as the creation of interfaces, systems, and technologies. It is also used in other fields and develops a set of concepts and theories that can be utilized as foundations in other field of studies such as medicine and its allied health disciplines.
Informatics has a wide range of specializations including data processing, information management, computer science, and statistical applications, but unlike computer science and computer engineering, it focuses on human-computer interactions. It stresses the use of computing to solve real-life problems by offering real-life solutions to make an impact to the world (IUSIC, 2016).
The theory of informatics focuses on a much broader scale than computer science. Mikhailov and his team emphasize that informatics is a theory of scientific information, which means the use of information technology to benefit the community, as well the integration of information technology to human organizational structures. They have coined the terms informatika and informatics to differentiate computer science from the latter. As for science, it examines the properties and structure of the scientific data, its activities of the scientific information, including its history, theoretical foundations, methodology, and organization (Mikhailov et al., 1966).
Some of the contributions of informatics include social networking, provision of tools to design safe and sustainable cities, innovations on business operations, management of global supply chains, integration of technology to businesses, development of educational technologies, and many others.
Because of the emergence of computers and technology, informatics can be very valuable to the medicine and its allied health professions. According to the American Medical Informatics Association (2015), informatics contributes to the development, introduction, and evaluation of new biomedical-motivated methods to public health, clinical research, and genomics/proteomics. Since informatics focuses on research, it is motivated in creating new solutions through the use of information technology to enhance biomedical science, health of the general population, and the quality and safety of health care.
For instance, in the field of nursing, informatics can be very beneficial to the practice. Aathi (2014) explains that the nursing practice is the center of information flow. Because of this, nursing informatics have continuously evolved to enhance the practice, management, education, and research by nurses with the ultimate goal of optimizing the information management and communication to increase the health care of families, individuals, and communities. Among the contribution of informatics to the nursing practice include the use of information and technology to direct provision of care, establishment of administrative systems, management and delivery of continuing education, and research (p. 2). In addition, it also systematizes health records through digitization, identifies the best treatment options for patients through the use of scientific information provided by national health networks, identifies new and more effective and efficient medicines, investigates on the spread of diseases, and provides adequate information on how to reduce the impact of illnesses (IUSIC, 2016).
Informatics involves a great deal of benefits to the practice because:
It supports the nursing work processes through the use of technology.
It is bi-lingual and can be easily understood.
It restructures the clinical workflow and facilitate multi-specialty change management acute care
It analyzes clinical and fiscal data
It promotes access to available resources and references.
It enhances the continuation of care and even improves the relationship of the service provider and the clients.
It enables providers to save costs and improve productivity levels (Aathi, 2014).
On the other hand, it also has several disadvantages. Snyder and her fellow researchers (2011) enumerate some of the harms of informatics include:
Breach of confidentiality.
Increased bureaucracy.
Contribution to dehumanization, treating the patients as subjects.
Interference to the doctor-patients’ relationships.
Currently, there are many developments on informatics’ contribution to health. The use of informatics on patient management, for instance, provides quality, safe, and patient-centered care. It has the potential to facilitate patient-centered care to cancer patients and develops a mechanism to provide the clinicians and other health care providers of necessary information that can be shared with family, friends, and other patients. It also enables patients to handle their situation and have control of managing their health conditions and care. It can also facilitate coordination among other clinicians through the communication tools and information resources (Synder et al, 2011).
Apart from these developments, informatics has also contributed to the strengthening of leadership and organization of the nursing profession. Nagelkerk et al. (1998) view that computerization is necessary to the profession as it increases the competency of nurses and offers cost-effective measures in the provision of health care. Informatics offers a diverse methods of educational opportunities to nurses such as distance education, computer assisted learning, and hands-on practice on programs and systems of surgery, nursing care, hospital management, among others to develop their competencies. It also offers opportunities to advance their skills through the convenient methods of obtaining a master’s degree and other advanced certifications (Nagelkerk et al., 1998; Aathi, 2014; Skiba, 2010).
Indeed, the informatics offers a wide range of advantages in the medical field. It is a valuable companion in ensuring the delivery of better health care services to patients, as well as professional advancement to the health care provider. On a personal note, informatics did not only improve the health care delivery, but also contributed to the advancement of the practice through the discovery of efficient methods to health care, more scientific approaches to patient care, and systematization of leadership and management of the health care facility. The use of informatics has yielded positive results to patients, health care providers, and managers, as well because it has organized the theories, methods, and approaches to health care as a discipline, and as an institution. To be able to advance the knowledge of the tools available, continuous education and training on the development of health care practice, the introduction of new sets of technological tools, continuous collaboration among health care professionals, and access to various resources can be helpful in promoting quality health care delivery.
References
Aathi, M. (2014). Nursing Informatics: The Emerging Field. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research 4.1 (Jan-Mar 2014): 127-130.
American Medical Informatics Association (2015). The Science of Informatics. AMIA. Retrieved from: https://www.amia.org/about-amia/science-informatics
Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing (2016). Informatics Defined. Retrieved from: https://soic.iupui.edu/about/what-is-informatics/
Mikhailov, A.I., Chernyl, A.I., and Gilyarevskii, R.S. (1966) "Informatika – novoe nazvanie teorii naučnoj informacii." Naučno tehničeskaja informacija, 12, pp. 35–39.
Nagelkerk, J, et. al. (1998). Nursing informatics: The trend of the future. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 29.1 (Jan/Feb 1998)
Skiba, D. (2010). The Future of Nursing and the Informatics Agenda. Nursing Education Perspectives 31.6 (Nov/Dec 2010): 390-1.
Snyder, C., et.al (2011). The Role of Informatics in Promoting Patient-Centered Care. The Cancer Journal 17.4 (Jul/Aug 2011): 211-8.
