Paper Example: The Impacts of Clinical System on Outcomes and Efficiencies

Generally, in the context within healthcare delivery and nursing practice, there exist a number of developments offering high quality and affordable health to the general population thus making certain people live a healthy and comfortable life unconfined to pain. Fundamentally, there has been a significant studies expansion attempting to set up how services related to health care delivery and nursing practice can be advanced and enhanced further by the use of technological advancements that already exists. For instance, making more improved and better developments in healthcare delivery by improving the already existing one's services. Clinicians and nurses can only provide high-quality healthcare services to the patients if there exist effective and efficient clinical systems implemented.

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As learning on the subject of the use and impacts of the applications of clinical systems on improving efficiencies and outcomes within a healthcare environment, more attention is mirrored on new technologies applications in advancing healthcare delivery services. As the IT sector continues to advance rapidly and utilized in different sectors, mainly due to the efficiencies and effectiveness that it brings about, it is also impacting healthcare sector resourcefully through better outcomes and productivity. Based on various conducted research about the applications of clinical systems in the healthcare sector, the use of clinical technological systems improves the relationship between the healthcare providers and patients as it gives the healthcare providers a better and easy approach of understanding the health situation of the patient. Essential information about the health of a patient is aligned mainly with immediate information retrieval, efficient and effective tests, and clinics outcome that is associated with the diagnosis. This assignment will be grounded mostly in the evaluation of various clinical systems strategies implemented in the past years to improve outcome and efficiency within the context of healthcare delivery. Healthcare leaders and nurse informatics formulate these strategies basing largely on informaticists, technology trends, and existing related relevant literature. This assignment will review literature that discusses the efficiencies and outcomes of EHRs (Electronic Health Records), interactive patient care technology, applications of digital tools, and CDSS (Computerized clinical decision support systems). In addition, the assignment will focus on the various ways the above-mentioned clinical systems strategies have the capabilities of increasing efficiency and outcome in the healthcare sector.

Literature Review on Application of Clinical Systems

Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Integration of functionalities within a particular institution is difficult implementation to be achieved thus great achievement in the healthcare sector by use of EHRs application. Integrating all information of different patients has been a necessity in the healthcare sector for clinicians and nurses as it facilitates easy access and retrieval of the patient files anywhere, thus avoiding losing or misdiagnosis errors. EHRs is a real-time, , and digital paper chart of a patient. It makes patients information to be only accessible and available to authorized users securely and instantly. Generally, EHR systems contains the patient treatment and medical histories, medications, diagnoses, allergies, treatment plans, radiology images, laboratory test results and also immunization dates; streamlined and automatic provider workflow; and also access to tools which are evidence-based used by healthcare providers in making patients' care decisions (Health IT. Gov, 2019). The main functionality of EHRs systems is for information sharing with other organizations such as medical imaging facilities, laboratories, emergency facilities, pharmacies; and healthcare providers for better patient care.

There exist various studies researching about hospital performance after the implementations of EHRs its negativities but mostly its positivity's. Robinson & Kersey (2018) study focuses on improving the documentation of EHR high-quality system through skills training while cutting down stressors connected to burnout of physicians. Through these programs of EHR training, physicians reported most impacts of the systems on efficiency and outcome through the reported improvement on readability and quality; fewer medical errors; clinical accuracy; and also increased efficiency in data retrieval and chart review. According to this study, it is essential for physicians and nurses to attend EHR training programs as it offers a learning platform on how to utilize electronic health records. The training has an impact on accuracy, safety, timeliness, quality of care, and also decreasing burnout of healthcare providers through time interfacing reduction and critical skills advancements with all health records of the patient aspects.

Interactive Patient Care Technology

Contrasting from before, technology today gives healthcare providers various approaches in providing IPC (interactive patient care). In the provision of satisfactory care to patients' technological devices is always included. Interactive patient care can be defined generally as the provision of either educational or entertainment resources within patient rooms, for example, in-room television. IPC improves the satisfactory level of patient care and also attract more patients in the healthcare facility. With the rapid growth momentum, IPC involves patient facing interfaces, for example, social applications, mobile, smart TV, and also the patient portal for self-service purposes. IPC technologies can be based in particular conditions of a patient, thus providing the healthcare provider with pain assessment, patient medication, and medication teaching. Based on the above brief description about IPC, it's clear it has a great impact on efficiency and outcome within the healthcare facility as it can also be integrated with other clinical IT systems and traditional EMR.

According to Rao-Gupta et al. (2018), the study uses IPC technologies in engaging families and patient in planning treatment plans of their children in pain in hospitals and also in evaluating treatment outcomes. With an improved partnership and active communication between families and patient and healthcare providers, the study depicts a positive impact on efficiency and outcome through the engagement by using IPC.

Application of Digital Tools- Mobile Applications and Social Media Platforms

There are a number of digital tools apart from mobile apps and social media platforms that have transformed healthcare delivery services dramatically in different settings. In overall, technological innovations are helping the sector of healthcare to move to the connected world. In today's internet world, people interact and engage with all their needed services, including health information through social media and mobile apps tools (Skiba, 2017). Due to the rapid growth of digital tools usage for engagement of healthcare, it is a considerable topic for healthcare providers to gain skills and knowledge thus have the capability to assess and recommend the usage of suitable digital tools. The article written by Skiba (2017) focuses on identifying and reviewing various instruments or approaches to be utilized in evaluating the appropriateness of social media and mobile apps tools used for healthcare engagement.

Using the existing relevant literature, the article, "Evaluation Tools to Appraise Social Media and Mobile Applications" by Skiba (2017) highlights a number of approaches that a healthcare institution can implement in providing recommendation guidance about the suitable social media and mobile apps tools for families, patients, and caregivers. With the rapid usage of mobile apps mainly apart from social media platforms for medical interactions, there are various existing mobile apps used to help healthcare providers with a variety of tasks during healthcare delivery. For example, healthcare access and maintenance, information gathering, information and time management, clinical decision making, communications and consulting, medical training and education and also patient monitoring and management hence the application of digital tools have a great impact on efficiency and outcome within a healthcare system. Computerized Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)

CDSS is a technological information system used in healthcare facilities to provide CDS (Clinical Decision Support) to all health care providers within the healthcare system. In simplicity, CDSS assists physicians with tasks related to clinical decision making. According to the study conducted by Carracedo-Martinez et al. (2019), CDSS is statistically effective and significant in the process of decision making, thus has an impact on efficiency and outcome within the healthcare system. The study aimed at performing a meta-analysis and systematic review of studies conducted in hospital facilities and primary care centers which assessed CDSSs effectiveness in the process of decision making in an antibiotic prescription. The conclusions drawn illustrated the effectiveness of using CDSSs in a number of variables, for example, the appropriate percentage of empirical treatment. Even though more research is required in studying other variables in relation to mortality or morbidity outcome, CDSS has a greater impact on efficiency and outcome in healthcare.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as clearly depicted from the above-discussed clinical systems- electronic health records, interactive patient care, computerized clinical decision support systems, and digital tools; the applications of clinical systems in the healthcare sector has a positive impact on efficiency and outcome. Generally, these systems increase accuracy, productivity, quality, and also timelessness, thus improving the delivery of patient care.

References

Carracedo-Martinez, E., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, C., Teixeira-Rodrigues, A., Prego-Dominguez, J., Takkouche, B., Herdeiro, M. T., ... & Galician Pharmacoepidemiology Research Group. (2019). Computerized clinical decision support systems and antibiotic prescribing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Therapeutics. Retrieved from; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149291819300566

Health IT. Gov. (2019). What is an electronic health record (EHR)? Retrieved from; https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehr

Rao-Gupta, S., Kruger, D., Leak, L. D., Tieman, L. A., & Manworren, R. C. (2018). Leveraging interactive patient care technology to improve pain management engagement. Pain Management Nursing, 19(3), 212-221. Retrieved from; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29249621

Robinson, K. E., & Kersey, J. A. (2018). Novel electronic health record (EHR) education intervention in large healthcare organization improves quality, efficiency, time, and impact on burnout. Medicine, 97(38). Retrieved from; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6160120/

Skiba, D. (2017, September). Evaluation Tools to Appraise Social Media and Mobile Applications. In Informatics (Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 32). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. Retrieved from; https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9709/4/3/32