Introduction
Reliable and sound information is the key source of decision-making across all healthcare centers worldwide. Effective information systems are essential for the development of health system policies and their implementation. In addition, it ensures good governance and regulation, promotes health research, improve human resources development and high service delivery. Advances in technology, especially the internet, creates a better opportunity to improve healthcare institutions through making communications more efficient and increasing the effectiveness of practitioners. Healthcare centers that have implemented information systems have realized great changes in their operations in terms of speed, safety, efficient communications between parties and cost cutting. With the help of health information online, healthcare centers have been able to improve their services by implementing information technology in radiology (Forward momentum, 2012). The following paper focuses of health information online and information technology in radiology.
Discussion
Health information online
Healthcare information system challenges are among the high-ranking issues affecting communities in the world today. The systems have multiple users and carry out a wide range of functions that focus on generation of information to enable effective health services. Emergence of new diseases threats, aging populations, shortage of healthcare professionals and rising healthcare costs contribute to the overall problem in the healthcare industry. Availability of health information online has the potential of improving healthcare services in terms of doctor’s response time, accessibility, and increased quality of patient care. Healthcare centers that have implemented online systems have realized great changes in their operations in terms of speed, safety, and efficient communications between parties (Jones, 2012).
According to Jones (2012), healthcare team member’s communication processes and patient’s capacity to follow up medical recommendations have a strong relationship. Effective communication between healthcare providers and patients assists in easier management of one’s health issues, promotes self-management of chronic medical conditions and enables adoption of preventive medical conditions. The health care industry has recognized the importance of health information systems and is working hard to ensure each and every healthcare center has implemented online healthcare services. They do so by urging hospitals to open their own websites and be updating people on new technologies.
Technological advancement has replaced tradition methods of offering healthcare service. Effective monitoring of patient conditions is the key means of achieving a quality patient care. Implementing health information online systems facilitates communication between doctors and nurses, and availability of information through the internet to promote improved decision-making processes and better coordination among healthcare providers. Hospitals offer a variety of services depending on the size and availability of facilities. Most hospitals conduct surgery services, X-rays and other operations aimed at diagnosing a disease. Presence of technology in a health institution ensures doctors and physicians have quality access to information required to cure a given illness since they can easily consult others through the internet. Radiology is one of the medical specialties that are performed on daily basis. Physicians who perform radiology operations are exposed to great dangers due to exposure of dangerous radiations. Such problems can be minimized with the availability of information systems in the healthcare industry (Jones, 2012).
Information technology in radiology
Physicians are exposed to a lot of harmful radiations in their day-to-day activities. Various methods have been proposed to protect the staff against these radiations. The increased use of X-ray facilities in most hospitals forms the most common exposure to radiation. Each day more than 1000 thousand X-ray examinations are done, and these exposes the healthcare workers and patients too many of risks of harmful radiations. The advancement in technology has introduced new ways of preventing radiations from reaching the individual’s body. A lot of procedures are put in place to ensure that medical staffs handling X-ray machine have minimum exposure to the radiations. Medical applications mostly use radiology in diagnosing patients. A response to radiation protection technology for healthcare workers should cater for many problems associated with X-rays exposure. The level of occupational exposure to X-ray varies depending on the type and place of examination. Several protective techniques have been proposed, like working some distance from the patient, but they are less effective. The intensity of X-rays used in hospital labs is too high requiring a system that has the capacity of reducing its effect to the people in question (Heron, Padovani, Smith and Czarwinski, 2010).
In the last decades, the health care system focused more on obtaining health information technology (HIT), especially through electronic medical records. Even with the high number of healthcare providers adopting HIT, a lot of challenges and barriers arise during the implementation of the service. Cost forms the main challenge most hospitals face in implementing HIT. Other challenges include lack of experienced physicians to operate technologically advanced machines and poor coordination between the staff. Improvement in the radiology departments will see many changes and more effective results. Implementation of a radiology information system would see a decline in cases of physicians and patients being harmed by radiations (Ralston, Coleman et al, 2004).
A radiology information system is designed to support operational workflow and surveillance within a radiology department. It also keeps patient data and contributes to electronic medical records concerning each patient. The system conducts many operations at once that manual health people cannot perform at once. RIS carries the duties of appointing, scheduling, developing work lists and digital dictation. In addition, the RIS keeps records of relevant patient details including communicable diseases previously diagnosed, infections and allergies reported. The following information system approach is recommended because it eliminated human interventions in maintain data and clinical records of a patient. Hospitals utilizing this system require their patients to make online registration so that their information is stored in the hospital database. Once a persons’ name is in the database, it makes it easier for that person to access hospital services since one requires registering only once (Ralston, Coleman et al, 2004).
Benefits of implementing healthcare information technology in radiology
Adoption of Information technology has made many healthcare centers move from the traditional ways of serving patients to more advanced methods. Health information system enhances patience privacy hence strengthening communication security. In the past, healthcare providers used to write patient information on papers that were prone to many dangers, especially fire. With the introduction of information technology, doctors can easily describe patients’ problems without necessarily having to write them down on papers. Patients who undergo radiology need not provide their previous medical records. The radiology information system keeps the records and it automatically retrieved it once the patient appears. The above services help minimize time and improve operations in other departments. In addition, traditional model of healthcare provision required a patient to walk into the healthcare center to receive his or her medical information. With health information systems, patients can give their medical history online and the computers at the hospital stores this information privately in the database warehouse (Lisa et al, 2012).
Secondly, implementation of radiology technology in healthcare centers helps in improving data delivery, and ensures all medical crises or urgent matters are notified to the relevant authority immediately. Staff productivity is vital for its growth and delivery of quality services to customers. Most healthcare centers that use online services have realized many benefits of technology. Staff members can interact with one another from one department to the other and enquire patient information without having to travel. For example, the healthcare sector has introduced an application found in Smartphone called a Single Point of Contact that provides an enhanced coordination of communication between doctors, nurses and other staff members (Forward momentum, 2012).
Challenges of using healthcare information technology in radiology
As stated early, technology is the best way to go but most organizations fail to implement it due to its high initial cost. Most hospitals are unable to use healthcare information systems because they cannot afford to open a website. In addition, healthcare technologies require highly qualified professionals to operate machines and other gadgets. Lack of such professionals hinders the implementation of such systems. On the other hand, the few available professionals ask for too big salaries that most healthcare centers cannot afford to pay.
Conclusion
Healthcare is a balance between urgency, privacy accuracy, technology and regulations. Health care providers who are able to strike the above balance enjoy the fruits of working in the healthcare industry. The availability of necessary information systems makes it easier for health care institutions to manage their patients well and minimizes the cost and time spent in an operation. Hospitals that have adopted the healthcare radiology technology have an advantage of receiving large number of patients with various needs. Healthcare providers should strive at improving their services by implementing healthcare information systems.
References
Forward momentum. (2012). Hospital use of information technology. Chicago: American Hospital Association. Retrieved from:
www.aha.org/aha/content/2005/pdf/FINALNonEmbITSurvey105.pdf.
Heron, J., Padovani, R. Smith, I., and Czarwinski, R. (2010). “Radiation protection of medical
staff”, European journal of radiology, 76; 20.
Jones, S. (2012). Information and communication technologies in healthcare. Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press.
Lisa, K. et al., (2012). "Electronic Health Records and Ambulatory Quality of Care," Journal of
General Internal Medicine. Vol. 3 No. 1, 23-35.
Ralston, M. D., Coleman, R. M., Beaulieu, D. M., et al. (2004). “Progress toward paperless radiology in the digital environment: Planning, implementation, and benefits”. J Digit Imaging, 17: 134-143.
