Introduction
In public health, informatics is defined as the systematic use of information and computer science and technology in public health practice, research, and learning (Carroll, 2003). As an engineering discipline, health informatics necessitates the application of knowledge from several related fields, particularly information science, computer science, psychology, and communications (Carroll, 2003). As compared with medical informatics, public health informatics seeks to integrate information science and technology to improve human health.
Analysis
Public health informatics inputs refer to data fed to a system to commence a particular process aimed at producing specific services or products (Carroll, 2003). There are several inputs required in the health informatics sciences, and among which are doctor’s notes, patient’s documents, lab results, supplies and equipment, and sundry. Similarly, public informatics throughput refers to the amount of work that an informatics’ computer system can handle in a given period. Factually, throughput can be used to correlate the effectiveness of several large public health informatics computers running many systems concurrently (Carroll, 2003).
In both computing and public health informatics, output refers to the communication between an information processing system and the outside world (Armoni, 2000). Through the output devices, processed information fed to the computer system is relayed to the observer on a screen or a paper display. Among the most popular output, public health informatics devices are screens and copiers. Similarly, devices that link several computer networks are considered as both input and output devices.
Health informatics systems are housed in a data warehouse (Armoni, 2000). Through this combined database, different people can advance their research analyses at once. The major sources of data are gutted, classified, altered, and availed by their administrators for possible data mining, online analytical processing, and decision support (Armoni, 2000).
Public health informatics specialists enter data used in hospital informatics systems. Health informatics experts major in inpatient security, coding, privacy, and records administration. This personnel is employed by hospitals to help with patient data care and ensure the accuracy of public health care records (Hovenga, 2010).
Public health organizations must protect their information to ensure that the confidentiality and privacy of individuals are upheld. Thus, safeguarding individuals’ data privacy and confidentiality is an important undertaking (Hovenga, 2010). To ensure that public health organizations protect the integrity of information, and guard against unauthorized access to information, several security measures need to be employed. Among these, security measures are the introduction of passwords, smart cards, biometrics, and cryptography. Similarly, an organization must be watchful for any possible intrusions into their computer systems, specifically systems that run online. To guard against mischievous attacks from the internet proxy servers, session password mechanisms, and firewalls are to be established (Hovenga, 2010).
Recommendation
Over the last decades, advancements in health informatics have resulted in numerous health benefits (Hovenga, 2010). Thus, to maximize the technology, much more investments need to be realized not just on the implementation of hardware and software but also on the development of an effective informatics workforce. Effective health informatics experts would maximize their potential when they work as a group. Similarly, the current reliance on data and communication networks has led to an increase in issues surrounding the control and access of such data, hence appropriate privacy and security measures should be put in place. With the expansion of internet connectivity, global health care costs will significantly drop due to the improvement of delivery and effectiveness of health care services (Hovenga, 2010). Therefore, if the trend continues into the near future, we may accumulate enough proof that informatics improves the health care system.
References
Armoni, A. (2000). Healthcare information systems challenges of the new millennium. Hershey, Pa.: Idea Group Pub.
Carroll, P. W. (2003). Public health informatics and information systems. New York: Springer.
Hovenga, E. J. (2010). Health informatics an overview ([2nd ed.). Amsterdam: IOS Press.