Managment Information Systems Analysis Essay

Introducing Information Systems to Healthcare to Improve Practice Management

Brittney Sierra

American Public University System

Introducing Information Systems to Healthcare to Improve Practice Management

Information systems are revolutionizing healthcare by integrating different tools for the management of information in the complex environment. Centricity is an information system for storage and management of electronic medical record. It provides flexible solution for management of patients’ records required for ambulatory practice. The traditional methods of record entry and storage are time-consuming and inefficient which not only introduce delays in workflows but also increase burden on staff for the management of data. Centricity provides a high level of automation of healthcare systems in various types of clinical settings. Effective information management improves quality of care and engagement time of patients as well as healthcare staff.

Centricity offers innovative solutions with a high level of flexibility to integrate the system of electronic medical records with central management of systems of healthcare service providers and physicians (GE Healthcare, 2018). It could be tailored according to the customized needs of healthcare organizations as it has enhanced compatibility with the existing systems. It is highly customizable, scalable and interoperable, making it flexible for healthcare ecosystems. It facilitates service providers to improve the quality of services with more informed care. This information system is particularly beneficial for medical practice as it offers efficient and low-cost methods for data entry, storage, transmission and retrieval.

Characteristics of the Users of the System

Centricity is a work-related system, and people associated with the management of information in the healthcare ecosystem are users of this information system. Healthcare service providers, physicians and staff for patient management are users of this system. Employees of healthcare organizations responsible for central management can also use this system as electronic medical records are integrated with central administrative systems of healthcare organizations. Physicians and general practitioners can access information of patients through this information system. Public agencies for the management of public healthcare data can use this system with the permission of service providers. The administrators of the system can share information with public agencies and authorized healthcare departments to provide the information required for the development of public healthcare policies.

Features and Usage of the System

Interface of Centricity includes four sections to integrate practice management with electronic medical records. The homepage of system consists of menu bar which includes chart, scheduling, registration, billing, payment entry, accounts receivables, collections, transactions management, EDI response management and reports management. The user has to log in before selecting any option from navigation bar. Summary section involves information of patients and their schedules. The user can access demographic information of patient just by moving cursor patient’s name. Desktop features of this system includes alerts, flags, documents, file attachments, registration, messaging and scheduling (GE Healthcare, 2018). These features provide quick navigation and informal messaging platform. The section of alerts and flags includes important messages ranging from test reminders to signing reports of patients. The user or provider can remove completed or irrelevant alerts by clicking remove options in the sidebar.

Documents section include all types of files or documents that provider need for scheduled visits of patients. These documents can include prescriptions and test reports of patients along with current status of each document. Moreover, providers can practice ICD-10 codes with the help of this system. The system provides search engines for quick search of codes of different diseases for the entry of diseases. It helps provider in diagnosis of problem and entry of this problem to chart of patient along code of problem. Centricity provides mapping of problem to code to allow providers to update problem list of patient. The provider can just use keywords and system would automatically generate results with codes.

Communication is a key problem in healthcare systems. Centricity provides secure and informal systems for users to communicate with each other. Moreover, data-entry methods include text, template and voice along with a comprehensive chart covering all types of information of a patient. The voice-recognition feature allows user to use speech for data-entry. The electronic prescribing tools helps user to update prescription of patient. The provider can initiate visit, update prescription and close visits after completing entry of medical record of patient along with problem codes with just few clicks. The system automatically charts of patients and billing of visits. The robust functionality of system helps provider to calculate dosage according to patient’s chart. Centricity provides interactive charts with different dimensions depending on type of patient. The provider can use these chart to map patient’s data quickly.

Centricity provides e-prescribing environment where provider can prescribe medicine by navigating electronic medical records of patients. The section of patient’s history includes past medical history, past surgical history, family history and social history. Quality and repo section includes inquiries, reports and quality measures to assess performance and service quality of the provider. In addition to it, the system provides dashboards providing real-time financial information including accounts receivable, accounts payables and revenue cycles. The page of account summary includes number visits of patient, insurance, deposit and balance. The customized pages for recording data and flexible navigation system makes this information system user-friendly and flexible.

The robustness of Centricity and its diverse features enable healthcare service providers to implement a system of electronic medical records while meeting healthcare management standards of regulatory bodies. It also provides a system to physicians and decision-makers for management of important data which can increase the efficiency of routine operations of hospitals while minimizing the requirement for human resource for managing data manually.

Impact of the System

Centricity provides an interface to users to manage and process information in healthcare settings for a variety of purposes ranging from caregiving to billing. Key features of this information system includes quick data entry, storage and transmission along with quick access data on demand without hassle of manual storage and transmission. The availability of online records of patients facilitates smooth workflow. It increases clinical productivity and quality of services while decreasing response time of healthcare organizations in complex settings. Ubiquity of this system removes hurdles in practicing medicine by providing high level of scalability.

The conventional methods of data management in healthcare systems are inefficient, time-consuming, high-cost and prone to errors. Centricity facilitates support of healthcare systems by minimizing time and energy of entering data manually. This system can scale down time and cost of data management. Eventually, it can shift efforts of physician and staff from data management to provision of quality care to patients. Nursing staff could get relief as they would be free from burdensome tasks of managing data manually. Employees at all level of hierarchy of healthcare organizations are involved in information management. The implementation of Centricity allows all participants to accomplish their tasks effectively. The automation of data management system streamlines day-to-day operations of healthcare service providers. In addition to it, the automation of operations reduces expenditures of healthcare organizations.

Centricity offers a platform for the integration of medical information of the patient, registration information and billing information of patient at one place. It allows users to trace patient information at a few clicks. It provides real-time data to administrators of healthcare organizations for making management decisions effectively. The integration of clinical data saves the time of providers while optimizing the workflow of organizations. The physicians can analyze the medical history of patients beforehand reducing time for diagnosis and medicine prescription. The simplified process of documentation reduces probability of error. The flexible methods of data-entry particularly speech increases ease of providers and saves them from time-consuming task of typing text for entering data. The availability of prebuilt templates and charts for data-entry facilitates user to compile patient’s information in an effective manner.

The robust features of Centricity helps physicians to automatically develop problem charts for different types of patients. For example, there are additional charts for children, smokers, diabetic patients and old-age people. These charts helps users to get calculate dosage according to age and medical conditions of patient. Financial dashboards simplifies financial management of service providers and reduces complexity of billing procedures. The financial decision-makers can use these dashboards to keep track of revenue cycle. Charts displaying summary of financial information allows decision-makers to streamline financial flows. The integration of data helps physicians and clinical decision-makers to organize their activities with robust tools and features of this information system.

Conclusion

Centricity assists healthcare service providers for practice management. It offers a wide range of features ranging from management of electronic medical records, patient management, billing, e-prescription to financial management of service providers. The automation of the practice management system provides support to nursing staff, physicians and administrative staff of healthcare organizations. It increases the efficiency of healthcare systems, clinical activities and quality of care. The scalability and customizability of this information system making it compatible with all types of clinical settings regardless of the size of the healthcare facility.

References GE Healthcare. (2018). Centricity EMR. Retrieved from gehealthcare.com: https://www.gehealthcare.com/en/products/healthcare-it/electronic-medical-records/centricity-emr GE Healthcare. (2018). Centricity Practice Solution Autodemos. Retrieved from gehealthcare.com: https://www.gehealthcare.com/en/products/centricity-practice-solution-autodemos