Operational and Informatics Use of Health Care Databases, Research Paper Example

Operational systems are typically used to monitor health care databases in real time. Data can be added, changed, or deleted to ensure that health records are relevant (O’Brien et al., 2008). The most common form of operational system is the electronic health record systems that many hospitals are beginning to implement on a widespread basis. This allows health care professionals to track patient data ranging from their health records to their billing information. Since the information could be changed quickly and easily, these systems help the health care institution run efficiently. This type of database could also be utilized by the hospital administration to check the number of beds and surgical materials available in real time, which assists with the organization of hospital operations.

On the other hand, informatics databases do not track information in real time. Rather, they are used to store information that has been accumulated over a long period of time (Western Technical College, n.d.). A prime example of informatics databases are research databases that contain many articles that are relevant to a particular field. This allows an individual who wishes to learn about a topic to access all of the publications that have been issued on their subject of interest. Furthermore, information that is traditionally stored in an operational database can be transferred to an informatics database for reference. For example, the initial patient records collected could be transferred to a form that cannot be edited for storage and reference purposes. This is useful for health care professionals that wish to ensure that individuals will not be able to compromise the validity of the data contained within the operational system, allowing operations to run smoothly.

References

O’Brien J, Gorila M. (2008). Management Information Technology Systems. Computer Software New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Western Technical College. (n.d.). Informational Databases. Retrieved from http://www.westerntc.edu/library/infodatabase.aspx.