Medical informatics management EMS 484, 12 Dr. Maha Saud Khalid

Contents  Define medical informatics  Get a sense of what medical informatics encompasses  Why is medical informatics important  Some examples of applications

Define Medical Informatics Systematic study Deals with all forms of “data” Biological data Medical data Associated data Problem solving Decision making

Define Medical Informatics Medical informatics is a scientific/systematic field of study that deals with the acquiring, storage, retrieval, and processing of medical, biological and associated data, information and knowledge for the purpose of problem solving and decision making

Data, Information, Knowledge Data are the raw facts obtained Information is outcome of analyzing data Knowledge is obtained from analyzing information

Data, knowledge and information are three distinct aspects of what we commonly call data. Data is the raw facts obtained e.g. blood pressure is 150/90. Information is outcome of analyzing data e.g. blood pressure is high. Knowledge is obtained from analyzing information e.g. hypertension is diagnosed when blood pressure is higher that 150/90

Medical Informatics Computerized Medical Records Health Information Networks Nursing Informatics Medical Expert Systems Computer-Aided Instruction Physician Order Entry Systems Clinical Information Systems Policy Making Veterinary InformaticsTelemedicine Medical Software Security Medical Software Engineering

The previous slide describes various fields in the domain of medical informatics. One must note that because there is no clear cut definition of the medical informatics, there are many researcher that will disagree with this slide. Other examples are nursing informatics, medical expert systems (computer programs that can aid with medical decisions). Medical informatics that deals with animals are called veterinary informatics. Others include computer aided instruction, medical software security, policy making, medical software engineering, clinical systems and health information networks.

Telemedicine is an aspect of medical informatics. Telemedicine is the field of study where one tries to provide medical care over distance. So you may be sitting in a rural hospital in Rwanda and there is a doctor or specialist treating you from a hospital in America.

Three important aspects of medical informatics is 1.Security 2.Mobile health 3.E-economics in health care.

Medical research, clinical practice Understanding diseases and their treatment Understanding diseases and their treatment Ensure right Patients receive right intervention Ensure right Patients receive right intervention Service delivery, performance assessment Service delivery, performance assessment Develop and test treatments Develop and test treatments Health Records

Why is proper management of medical data important ? 1.Patient health record: this data forms part of the patient health record. No clinical staff will be able to remember details about patient treatment in detail. Thus there needs a place to record it in order to remind clinicians about treatment protocols, treatment history, continuity of care etc. 2.Administrative purposes: information needs to be properly managed to administrate the hospital. This aids in resources allocation.

3. Research and knowledge discovery: imagine doing research when data is not recorded. 4. Legal issues: there are also legal issues. Proper data management is particularly important when it comes to malpractice lawsuits. The doctor will use this record to prove that his treatment would be the same as another doctor in a similar situation.

What is lacking in the current approach ? Organizational: this refers to the manner in which the paper is organized i.e. the way in which the data is stored in the paper record and also how this facilitates the retrieval of information Logistical: this deals with the aspects of communication and backup.

Research: this deals with issues pertaining to obtaining data from paper for research purposes Passive nature of paper: paper can inform you actively of any mistake there may be in data entry

Medical Informatics Solutions There are solutions that use technology to overcome the four categories of problems. These are medical informatics solutions 1.Database: By recording data in a structured electronic way in a database, 2.Retrieve and process the information: It also aids in finding links in the information that you would not normally find if you were using paper.

3. The internet : allows you to communicate so much easier. It allows you to find sources of information both for your self and for your patients. 4. Computer programs: can prevent you from making mistakes like medication errors, help you in making decision on drug treatment etc. These programs can also help the patient itself e.g. helping educate the patient about his/her aliment, help the hospital manager allocate resources etc.

Why Medical Informatics? What is lacking in the current paper based approach ? Medication errors are the greatest cause of erroneous death in developing countries. Medication error consists of :  Patient has allergic reactions  Wrong medication given to patient  Wrong dosage given to patient

The big picture Understanding diseases and their treatment Understanding diseases and their treatment Ensure right Patients receive right intervention Ensure right Patients receive right intervention Service delivery, performance assessment Service delivery, performance assessment Develop and test treatments Develop and test treatments Clinical engagement, post- marketing surveillance, data mining Manage safe workflow, professional communication, security Patient-specific Decision-making to optimise and personalise treatment Standards based formalisation of clinical data and research results

Medical Informatics Solutions Medication errors may be prevented by a simple scanning device: There are simple ways to overcome the medication errors. Once approach is to attach barcodes to the patient wrist. Before any medication is given, the barcode should be scanned in order to determine if there are any allergies, dosage issues or adverse interactions between the medication.

Why Medical Informatics What is lacking in the current paper based approach ? The cost and time factors are also disadvantageous. A complete paper based approach to medical records is much more expensive in the long run. One needs large amounts of paper, printers and ink, an environment to store the paper, another storage location outside the hospital as a backup location. There is also an environmental cost associated with using paper. We need to preserve trees and adhere to the greener way of life our leaders are encouraging us to live. Using a paper based record takes a lot of time to retrieve data, to process the information for tests.

Why Medical Informatics What is lacking in the current paper based approach ? 1. Cost: Paper and storage Environmental Cost 2. Time: Find record, perform tests

Medical Informatics Solutions Ultimate goal is to improve the quality of health care, research and education in medicine and health

Decisions Determine Data

Public Health Medical informatics may help in public health. Aggregated clinical data can be analyzed to identify emerging diseases within a region, country, or around the world. It also aids in Public health alerts (e.g., new flu strain) and this may beincorporated into clinical information systems used by primary care clinicians

Personalized Medicine Medicine is moving towards what is termed personalized medicine. No long will there just be a list of symptoms that is used to diagnose and prescribe medication. Genomic data will be used to do most of this. The problem however, it that genomic data is very large and complex to store and retrieve. Thus there needs to be a management system that will facilitate its use. This again indicates the importance and use of medical informatics.

Does it Always Work ? important to note that not all medical informatics solutions actually work. Not all solutions are beneficial. No

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