How can nursing informatics be applied to nursing administration?
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Delivering effective and efficient health care depends on access to accurate and timely data. Healthcare professionals in managed care and payer groups were among the first to use health informatics to mine patient outcome data to determine specific trends.1 These professionals then used that information to treat patients more efficiently and effectively. Based on those early successes, managers throughout healthcare are steadily incorporating the use of health informatics in their own organizations. Show
What is health informatics?Informatics is a technology in health care that blends IT solutions with innovations in healthcare delivery, management, and planning. By using powerful analytics engines, medical informatics delves deeper into healthcare data than ever before, revealing trends and correlations that otherwise might go undetected to improve patient outcomes as well as organizational efficiency. Patients’ medical records are the foundation of health informatics. Integrating computer science, data science, and health care, this healthcare administration specialty comprises the fields of management, public health, healthcare delivery, patient safety, analytics, and information technology. Subspecialties include bioinformatics for medical research, nursing informatics, biosurveillance for public health, and applied informatics for electronic data management.2 How is healthcare informatics used?Unlike health information managers, who ensure that medical records are accurate and accessible and that medical procedures are properly coded and billed, the job description for healthcare administrators in informatics calls on them to use medical information to support decisions, improve protocols, and enhance patient outcomes. One way informatics can be used is as a screening tool for patient infection. For example, informatics specialists at the UCSF Medical Center developed a tool to mine electronic medical records to spot signs that patients may have sepsis.3 Occurring after infections, sepsis can damage major organs and, in the United States, is responsible for roughly 250,000 deaths each year. Health plans use medical informatics to correlate patterns of treatments with outcomes to generate improvements for individuals or populations. By analyzing data from thousands of anonymized patient records, health informatics systems can categorize patient experiences by type and stage of disease, additional medical conditions (comorbidities), medications prescribed and adherence to treatment, as well as identify anonymized patients’ geographic locations, age, gender, weight, and other factors. This information is used to predict prognoses for particular patients or to predict therapies most likely to succeed under very specific conditions. Consequently, individual patients may return to health sooner, and with less expense. This new technology can also measure patient engagement metrics between visits to a healthcare provider. In addition to patient portals, engagement tools increasingly include wearable devices, such as activity trackers and home insulin monitors, that add patient-generated data to medical records. Informatics also helps healthcare administrators tailor incentive plans to patients. For example, plan administrators may offer reduced co-pays to select patients who attend smoking cessation programs. What Every Manager Should Know About InformaticsInformatics is the heart of evidence-based, value-based medicine. Healthcare professionals are increasingly turning to this mined data to support their decisions. Health informatics specialists help managers throughout the healthcare industry access the right information to produce actionable insights that can improve both therapeutic and institutional efficiency. If you are interested in learning more about health informatics and becoming part of this dynamic healthcare management field, contact Utica University to learn about its online Business Administration Masters in Health Care Management. Hospitals and organizations across the healthcare continuum have adopted increasingly sophisticated health information technology to record patient data and guide clinical decision making. Specialists in nursing informatics harness these sophisticated applications to support crucial duties like performing diagnostics, developing care plans, administering treatments, and educating patients and their families. Healthcare providers can now access an unprecedented volume of quantitative information that makes it possible to assess the needs of patients more accurately. This article will explore some of the benefits of nursing informatics and discuss opportunities to start or advance your career in this growing field. Developing the expertise to leverage healthcare information can empower nurses to take on their most urgent challenges. What Is Nursing Informatics?Healthcare informatics is a discipline focused on the management of electronic health records and information systems. Equipped with up-to-date information technology, medical facilities and life sciences businesses fulfill the technical requirements to securely handle enormous amounts of sensitive data. The resulting insights can keep facilities running at their best and guide leadership toward long-term improvements. Healthcare informaticists may uncover findings that serve to prevent the spread of disease in a population, promote treatment adherence, coordinate care among multiple specialists and ensure an organization’s compliance with all relevant privacy regulations and policies. However, each of the many roles that keep a healthcare organization functioning, from doctors to administrators, may benefit most from different types of quantitative information and varied approaches to organization, analysis and visualization. Clinical Informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing, medical, clinical science, computer science and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in our patient care and informatics practice. This specialized informatics practice is essential to the delivery of high quality, and cost-effective health care in a fast-paced environment where technology is ubiquitous. Nursing informatics strives to facilitate the unique job responsibilities of nurses through optimized health IT methods and software tools. Specialists may apply nursing informatics skills to:
Nurses who build the skills to solve problems through technology and quantitative analysis can succeed in nursing informatics careers. These professionals commonly hold job titles such as:
Benefits of Nursing InformaticsThe findings garnered from health IT systems, electronic health records and software tools can not only assist in nurses’ daily tasks but fuel transformation throughout a healthcare organization. Informatics professionals investigate data to find powerful means of helping providers fulfill their duties and collaborate across multiple disciplines. Adelphi University’s Department Chair of Graduate Nursing Studies Edmund J.Y. Pajarillo suggested that shifts over the next decade may have widespread effects on the nursing profession. “Technology is causing sweeping changes so that the traditional roles of nurses might become outdated,” Pajarillo said. By embracing the possibilities of informatics, nurses and other healthcare professionals can position themselves ahead of the curve. Some of the most promising effects from the advent of informatics-driven strategies in nursing include: Superior Results for PatientsAccurate and thorough electronic health records are essential to high-quality treatment. Informaticians ensure that organizations have the platforms and processes in place to document each patient’s condition and history in depth while complying with privacy regulations. Digital connections place extensive biometrics and pharmacy records at nurses’ fingertips so they can plan interventions and share the relevant findings with various departments. Nursing staff use informatics solutions to identify patients who are at higher risk for serious conditions and take preventative steps early. Automated alerts minimize the chance for medical errors by warning providers about potential dangers such as a patient’s allergy or a hazardous drug interaction. Efficient Clinical ProcessesFor years, healthcare organizations have pursued a shift away from a fee-for-service model into providing value-based care. Informatics aids in these efforts to offer systematic, evidence-based treatment that prevents unnecessary or overly expensive procedures. By examining analytics, leaders are able to set and enforce best practices while meeting the individual needs of each patient. Clinical decision support systems are a powerful means of harnessing data from electronic records and ubiquitous medical devices to standardize care and eliminate waste. Information science professionals implement these software programs to analyze patient data and offer useful information like clinical guidelines. A decision support system may help make diagnoses as well as trigger timely prompts and reminders over the course of treatment. Coordinated CareDelivering the best possible results for patients often calls for collaboration among healthcare professionals who may work in different departments, facilities or organizations. Care coordination and communication makes it possible for everyone involved in diagnosis and treatment to organize their efforts and share information. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the key elements involved in care coordination are:
Digital infrastructure is crucial to making the most of these efforts. When nurses, specialists and other providers easily access details about a patient’s needs, they can make more informed decisions and prioritize safety. With extensive security measures and privacy practices in place, professionals can share the necessary health records to ensure they offer the best treatment and avoid redundant procedures. Advances in TelehealthThe advent of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has made abundantly clear the value of reliable access to quality healthcare from home. Dr. A. Hasan Sapci, an assistant professor of health informatics at Adelphi, thinks the recent progress toward widespread adoption of telemedicine devices and practices is just beginning. He argues that the growing use of digital sensors to monitor the conditions of patients is a sign of a major shift in how healthcare providers track diseases, encourage treatment adherence and prevent dangerous situations. “Digital monitoring applications are now breaking into the mainstream,” Sapci said. Adelphi’s College of Nursing and Public Health accordingly emphasizes the growing importance of telehealth in the informatics curriculum. Sapci established the Smart Home for Home Healthcare Lab, which provides hands-on experience using the latest technology to monitor patients outside of a traditional hospital or medical practice. Students experiment with remote sensors, telepresence appointments and applications to gain insights into an individual’s health from a distance. How Do You Become a Nursing Informatics Specialist?Nursing informatics careers require specialized expertise in both nursing and information science. Professionals in this field generally have previous nursing experience, and, according to data from Burning Glass, job postings for registered nurses are more likely than any other occupation to request familiarity with healthcare informatics. However, healthcare informaticists with backgrounds in information science, analytics, computer science or other related fields may also be able to pursue careers in developing technical solutions to help nurses. To excel as a nursing informaticist, you need an advanced understanding of how data and systematic processes can achieve immediate improvements and lead an organization toward its long-term goals. Graduate education in the field equips nurses and supporting IT staff with the knowledge they need to become effective quantitative problem solvers. The Department of Labor found that 41 percent of specialists in nursing informatics hold a master’s degree. You can prepare for the quantitative problem solving and healthcare challenges involved in these roles by following a nursing informatics education pathway like the following: Meeting Nursing Informatics Requirements
A healthcare informatics master’s program provides students from a variety of backgrounds with specialized skills in implementing electronic systems for medical records, analyzing data to improve care and capturing the potential of remote monitoring systems. By becoming an expert in the data that nurses use every day, you can tackle complex challenges and enhance the well-being of countless patients. About Adelphi’s Online MS in Healthcare InformaticsThe online Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics from Adelphi University’s College of Nursing and Public Health prepares students for careers in implementing cutting-edge medical technologies to meet the needs of patients and healthcare professionals. This degree program is an excellent fit for practicing nurses and doctors, health IT professionals as well as career changers. No matter your experience level or background, Adelphi provides multiple layers of support, especially for those who may have been out of school for a while. Our expert faculty offer personalized instruction in convenient online courses that are informed by years of professional experience. The healthcare informatics curriculum is designed to help working professionals transform healthcare management and delivery. Hands-on exercises and a comprehensive education in health information technology, will develop your proficiency in working with electronic medical records and the systems that are critical to improving patient care. How nursing informatics are helpful in nursing service?Nursing staff use informatics solutions to identify patients who are at higher risk for serious conditions and take preventative steps early. Automated alerts minimize the chance for medical errors by warning providers about potential dangers such as a patient's allergy or a hazardous drug interaction.
What examples can you think of which nursing practiced can be enhanced with nursing informatics?Providing Training and Learning Based on Objective Data
One of the most valuable ways a nursing informaticist can enhance patient outcomes is through providing training to clinical staff. They can use data to identify endemic issues in a healthcare organization and consult on the best way to resolve these problems.
What are examples of informatics in nursing?What Is Nursing Informatics?. Computerized provider order entry (CPOE). Electronic medical records (EMRs) Test results. Progress notes. Nursing notes. Medication records.. What is the goal of nursing informatics in the practice of nursing?Nursing informatics refers to the practice and science of integrating nursing information and knowledge with technology to manage and integrate health information. The goal of nursing informatics is to improve the health of people and communities while reducing costs.
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