Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, Essay Example

Evaluating an information system requires nurses to demonstrate expert knowledge and skill in their clinical areas of expertise, while also supporting different forms of technology that will be useful in meeting patient needs effectively. Evaluating a specific health information technology system from a nurse’s perspective requires an effective understanding of the system components and how it might contribute to the overall effectiveness of nursing practice in promoting high quality care for patients. Some of the factors to consider include user friendliness, ease of adding and editing information, system security, and checks and balances to minimize system errors. Implementing a system of this nature, therefore, requires nurse knowledge and input at all stages so that the process runs smoothly and efficiently, while also capturing practical information that will support nurse-based care and treatment objectives (Nahm et.al, 2007). This process also requires nurses to share their own experiences with the system during the production and testing phases in order to accomplish the desired objectives in a practical manner (Nahm et.al, 2007).

A successful system evaluation from a nurse’s point of view requires a number of key elements that will contribute to effective outcomes, such as recording system errors as they are discovered and communicating this information to technical experts to make corrections and avoid these errors in the future (Rahimi & Vimarlund, 2007). It is believed that these practices will enable nurses to better understand these systems and to provide input that is not only valuable, but that will support the necessity for high quality patient care and treatment at all times when the system is in use and is rolled out to a larger group of employees for their use in treating their patients (Rahimi & Vimarlund, 2007).

References

Caballero Muñoz, E., & Hullin Lucay Cossio, C. M. (2010). Engaging clinicians in health informatics projects. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151,195-206

Liaw, S. T., & Gray, K. (2010). Clinical health informatics education for a 21^st century world. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 479-491.

Nahm, E., Vaydia, V., Ho, D., Scharf, B., & Seagull, J. (2007). Outcomes assessment of clinical information system implementation: A practical guide. Nursing Outlook, 55(6), 282-288.e2.

Rahimi, B., & Vimarlund, V. (2007). Methods to evaluate health information systems in healthcare settings: A literature review. Journal of Medical Systems, 31(5), 397-432.

Reti, S. R., Feldman, H. J., Ross, S. E., & Safran, C. (2010). Improving personal health records for patient-centered  care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 17(2), 192–195.

Wagner, P. J., Howard, S. M., Bentley, D. R., Seol, Y., & Sodomka, P. (2010). Incorporating patient perspectives into the personal health record: Implications for care and caring. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 7(Fall), 1–12