Hospital Information Systems – A Seamless World for Care Providers

Oct 29, 2021

In the recent past, the healthcare sector has witnessed colossal progress in Information Systems, and Technology has led to massive development in the Hospital Information Systems (HIS). HIS is referred to as a system that manages all kinds of healthcare data and information. It involves collecting, storing, managing, and transmitting patients’ electronic medical records (EMR).

Due to the ever-increasing healthcare data, HIS usage is crucial. Initially, the hospital information system was focused predominantly on the core financial aspects of the healthcare business. But later, the initiation of the Wide Area Network (WAN) formed the essential foundation for sharing digital data by enabling connectivity between various hospital sites. This inhibits data duplication, intensifies security, and simplifies data collection for analysis. Clinical Management, Patient Management, Diagnostics and Treatment, Supply Management, Financial Accounting, and Research and Education are some areas where HIS is doing wonders. HIS has generated various lines of progress:

• It has generalized storage-based computer treatment and has accelerated data processing.

• The architecture of information systems has switched from local to global.

• Data usage is not restricted to healthcare and administrative purposes but has extended towards clinical research and healthcare planning.

• Continuous development of technologies is taking place, which helps constantly monitor patients’ health status.

Divisions of Hospital Information Systems

There are two main categories of hospital information systems: Clinical Decision Support (CDS) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR). Electronic medical records preserve data, patients’ information, and physician notes in a technical software database. Electronic records enable the provider to follow the patient’s health over time, get access to the inputs of other consulting physicians, or recall the clinical assessment from the past hospital visit. EMR and CDS systems together form the pillar of the hospital information systems.

Benefits of Hospital Information Systems

• Easy Accessibility to Patient Data: A well-executed HIS implies readily accessible patient data to healthcare professionals. With only a few clicks, all the necessary information about a patient from various departments can be available. If the physician needs to re-examine the test reports, they can log into the HIS, which will give him instant access to those reports.  

• Cost-Effective: HIS eliminates a lot of manual work because most of the work gets automated, thereby saving a lot of expenditure.

• Improved Patient-Care: Increase in access to patient information and work efficiency provides better and faster patient care. With automation coming into the picture, all the departments in the hospital get inter-connected and process information rapidly, resulting in improved patient care.

• Reduced Errors: Since the hospital information system is automated and performs tasks with accuracy, the chance of error is decreased drastically.  

• Enhanced Data Security: In HIS, the data is preserved on the cloud or server, keeping it safe from any vulnerability.

• Improved Efficiency: HIS is an automation in insurance system and ensures increased efficiency. The software functions accurately day in day out. 

The accelerated development of automation in hospital information systems has become inevitable. Hospitals will experience pressure to upgrade their health information systems soon; hence, an integrated design and planning framework is needed.