The quality of the health care can be increased with the help of implementation of new management systems aimed at making the storage and use of information about the patients, innovations in medical practise, current events, and other issues useful for healthcare staff freely available, easily accessible, though more secured and protected from breaches of confidentiality. The computerized management system would enable nursing staff to spend more time on self-education and providing patients with professional care. When the nursing staff can use a certain integrated database for all medical establishments, it facilitates the procedure of passing the records, prescriptions, analyses, and other details that are usually reported in the morning by nurses. Some devices and technologically advanced systems can make the procedures easier and reduce the risk of misinterpretation of the doctors’ handwriting and patients’ personal records.
Management Systems and Their Implementation
Importance of active nursing involvement in the planning, choice, and implementation of the management systems. Planning, choice, and implementation of the management systems should be fulfilled with active participation of the nursing staff because these people spend most time with patients. Choosing and implementing the new management system should be approved by the nursing staff as it may facilitate the care delivery and patients can benefit from more accurate care. Active nursing involvement is important while planning, choosing, and implementing the new management system because nurses are the ones who are supposed to work with these systems and benefit from incorporation of new technologies into nursing practise. As a rule, technological innovations are perceived with a special alert, though some attention and awareness of the necessity of implementation of new devices are natural.
Nurses should learn how to use the device in terms of different functions and options, so, they should be actively involved into the processes related to the new devices and systems. Thus, the computerized system for order entries can be used in order to prevent medication errors; “in a computer-assisted management program for antibiotics substantially decreased costs and improved quality of care in an ICU, by reducing the number of times patients experienced an allergic reaction to drugs and improving the appropriateness of drug dosing” (Bates et al., 1998, p. 1315). Thus, the management systems can reduce costs and improve quality of care. The importance of implementation of an advanced technological management system in order to make the information more available to the nursing staff and enhancing their skills is emphasized by Hsia, Lin, Wu, & Tsai (2006) who suggest that nurses are “required to take new nursing knowledge and experience that can be acquired through various net-enabled applications or Internet” (p. 14). Costs are an integral part of every innovation implemented into practise which means that costs are likely to be increased, whereas the governmental programs can reduce the risk of the cost increase and its impact on patients.
Handheld devices and management systems
The computerized management systems and software programs are combined with healthcare requirements and aimed at making the care delivery more effective, as suggested by Health Information and Management Systems Society (2010), “There are a variety of ME-PI approaches/programs that can significantly improve the performance of today’s healthcare organization” (n.p.). The most commonly used are Six Sigma which improves the performance and Lean which reduces the time for producing laboratory results. Other management systems include Patient Acuity Workload Management System (PAWMS), CureMD PRS (Practice Resource System), CureMD EHR (Electronic Health Records), VisionaryTM DREAM EMR, IntraNexus Sapphire (On-Line Consultant Software, 2007). The handheld devices can be used in order to exchange data in the form of cell phones. As these communication devices are considered easy-to-use, they can be successfully implemented by the nursing staff while fulfilling their duties.
Security Standards of Data and Patient Confidentiality With Regard to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
New systems affecting healthcare cost
The new management systems in the area of healthcare are supposed to increase the costs of medical care, though sufficient financing and effective management are aimed at avoiding the cost increase. The medical care should not be influenced by some improvements implemented for the nursing staff because these improvements are introduced in order to facilitate the work of nursing staff, avoid medication errors, and improve the care delivery. As a rule, the investments and sponsorship make the incorporation of new technologies smoother and less detectable for patients that can feel the influence of the cost increase. Moreover, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) stipulates the rules and regulations of electronic data exchange in order to prevent errors and breaches in confidentiality. Thus, the section 1173 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 stipulates that each person should “ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the information; protect against any reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of the information; and unauthorized uses or disclosures of the information” (p. 8). Thereby, the personal patients’ information is secured by law. Different software programs are aimed at detecting the errors which may cause breaches in confidentiality.
Benefits of new management systems to patient care and nursing care delivery
The management systems are various and every health care establishment can choose the most appropriate one. The functions of most devices are aimed at facilitating the data exchange between he patient and the healthcare organization and between the healthcare organizations. As a rule, the involvement of the nursing staff into planning, choosing, and implementing the new management systems is effective for further incorporation of the new device. The FM 8-501 (a workload management system for nursing (WMSN) can be discussed in order to demonstrate the common features of the management systems and devices used in nursing. The WMSN is designed as the one linked to patient care directly which enables the nursing staff to spend most time delivering care directly. The program is based on formulas that include the time for indirect nursing care and other manipulations as well as on direct care. Thus, self-education, training acquiring more information to develop the practical skills, and other operations are included into the WMSN programs. The application is simple, though it has all required options that enable nursing staff to schedule the time and procedures. The devices that are based on the modern technologies and combine issues aimed at training and direct patient care can be readily implemented by the nursing staff in order to improve the care delivery and facilitate the exchange of the patient personal information.
Conclusion
The handheld devices resembling portable mobile phones or small mechanisms have entered the life of the nursing staff and patients. The new systems facilitate the work of the healthcare personnel as well as improve the care delivery and prevent serious medication errors. Every specialized organization can choose the most appropriate management system that would either ensure errorless exchange of the patients’ personal information, or help to prevent allergic reactions with patients that have already experienced allergic reaction on certain drugs. Some time for training and maintenance can be spent by the nursing staff because the devices reduce the time spent on reporting of the laboratory results and other common functions usually performed. The active involvement of the nursing staff can benefit the planning, choosing, and implementation of new management systems. The devices are handheld, so they are effective in terms of technological advancement and personal convenience.
Reference List
Bates, D. W., Leape, L. L., Cullen, D. J., Laird, N., Petersen, L. A., Teich, J. M., …Seger, D. L. (1998). Effect of computerized physician order entry and a team intervention on prevention of serious medication errors. JAMA, 280 (15), 1311-1316.
Hsia, T. L., Lin, L. M., Wu, J. H., & Tsai H. T. (2006). A framework for designing nursing knowledge management systems. (2006). Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 1, 13-22.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). (2010). Management engineering and process improvement programs. Web.
On-Line Consultant Software. (2007). Mardon Healthcare Information Systems. Hand-Held Devices Directory. Web.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. (n. d.). Public Law 104-191: 104th Congress. Web.