Informatics and Application Systems in Health Care, Essay Example

That information technologies have already become an indispensable component of health care provision is a well-known fact. Health information technologies are believed to enhance the quality of medical care and raise the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the most sophisticated health care services. Professionals in nursing display a concerted agreement that information technologies and application systems benefit all aspects of the nursing care and practice. However, it is not always possible to define what exactly information systems can and should do in nursing care environments. Imaging exemplifies one of the most promising IT trends in health care. More often than not, patients can no longer imaging quality care without imaging techniques. The diagnostic value of radiology in pediatric care is difficult to underestimate. The principal question to answer is how pediatric nursing care benefits from radiology applications implementation in hospitals.

This topic is appealing for two reasons. First, radiology is fairly regarded as the fundamental ingredient of high quality pediatric care, especially in complex cases. For example, Goenka et al (2009) evaluated the significance of radiology techniques in diagnosing ectopia vasa deferentia; the latter is a complex anomaly of the lower gastrointestinal tract in infants. The authors concluded that imaging plays a central role in diagnosing and managing this complex condition (Goenka et al, 2009). However, it is crucial to see how the implementation of radiology applications enhances the provision of care in less complex cases.

Second, despite the overall benefits of pediatric radiology, it is still associated with several essential risks. These risks have nothing to do with monetary failures but include physical trauma, radiation exposure, oversedation, and even adverse reactions to contrast media (Kirks &Griscom, 1998). Here, the role of information applications in reducing these risks needs to be analyzed. This term paper is likely to become the first step toward a better understanding of medical imaging technologies and their advantages in pediatric nursing.

References

Goenka, A.H., Parihar, M., Sharma, R., Bhatnagar, V. & Gupta, A. (2009). 3-D MR imaging of ectopia vasa deferentia. Pediatric Radiology, 39, 1246-1249.

Kirks, D.R. &Griscom, N.T. (1998). Practical pediatric imaging: Diagnostic radiology of infants and children. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.