What is a Health Information System?
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Learn what a health information system (HIS) is and how they're key to managing healthcare data, along with HIS benefits, best practices, and more.
A health information system (HIS) refers to a system designed to manage healthcare data. This includes systems that collect, store, manage and transmit a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), a hospital’s operational management or a system supporting healthcare policy decisions.
Health information systems also include those systems that handle data related to the activities of providers and health organizations. As an integrated effort, these may be leveraged to improve patient outcomes, inform research, and influence policy-making and decision-making. Because health information systems commonly access, process, or maintain large volumes of sensitive data, security is a primary concern.
Health information technology (HIT) involves the development of health information systems.
Components of Health Information Systems
Health information systems can be used by everyone in healthcare from patients to clinicians to public health officials. They collect data and compile it in a way that can be used to make healthcare decisions. Usually, because such a variety of roles - each with different needs and goals - needs to interact with health information systems, the technology that comprises them are essential to the delivery and advancement of healthcare.
Components of health information systems include:
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR)
These two terms are almost used interchangeably. An electronic medical record (EMR) replaces the paper version of a patient’s medical history - think of it as digital version of the paper charts in the clinician’s office.
Electronic health records (EHRs) can provide a more detailed record of a patient’s medical history. The electronic health record includes more health data, test results, and treatments. It also is designed to share data with other electronic health records so other healthcare providers can access a patient’s healthcare data.
Practice Management Software
Practice management software helps healthcare providers manage daily operations such as scheduling and billing. Healthcare providers, from small practices to hospitals, use practice management systems to automate many of the administrative tasks.
Master Patient Index (MPI)
A master patient index connects separate patient records across databases. The index has a record for each patient that is registered at a healthcare organization and indexes all other records for that patient. MPIs are used to reduce duplicate patient records and inaccurate patient information that can lead to claim denials.
Patient Portals
Patient portals allow patients to access their personal health data such as appointment information, medications and lab results over an internet connection. Some patient portals allow active communication with their physicians, prescription refill requests, and the ability to schedule appointments.
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
Used commonly in telehealth set ups, remote patient monitoring allows medical sensors to send patient data to healthcare professionals. While usually meant to observe biometric data like heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels, it can be used to frequently monitor any symptom or condition in patients with chronic conditions. The data is used to detect medical events that require intervention and can possibly become part of a larger population health study.
Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
Clinical decision support systems analyze data from various clinical and administrative systems to help healthcare providers make clinical decisions. The data can help prepare diagnoses or predict medical events — such as drug interactions. These tools filter data and information to help clinicians care for individual patients.
Benefits of Health Information Systems
Health information systems tend to target efficiency and data management. The main drivers of health information systems are:
- Data analytics: The healthcare industry constantly produces data. Health information systems help gather, compile and analyze health data to help manage population health and reduce healthcare costs. Then the healthcare data analysis can improve patient care.
- Collaborative care: Patients often need to treatments from different healthcare providers. Health information systems — such as health information exchanges (HIEs) — allow healthcare facilities to access common health records, something that can help improve the speed, quality, safety and cost of patient care.
- Cost control: Using digital networks to exchange healthcare data creates efficiencies and cost savings. When regional markets use health information exchanges to share data, healthcare providers see reduced costs. On a smaller scale, hospitals aim for the same efficiencies with electronic health records.
- Population health management: Health information systems can aggregate patient data, analyze it and identify trends in populations - in some situations, they can even be used to predict or prevent outbreaks, or identify at-risk populations. The technology also works in reverse. Clinical decision support systems can use big data to help diagnose individual patients and treat them.
- Basic health informatics competencies: For many healthcare organizations, the goal of a HIS is to contribute to high quality healthcare with basic health informatics competencies.
Best Practices for Health Information Systems
Security is the primary health information system concern. All networks are vulnerable, but we've see over the last 10 years that healthcare providers are particularly desirable targets for cybercriminals. Research in April, 2024 found that ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations affect significantly more sensitive data - 20% - compared to attacks on other industries, which impact only 6% of all data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates the protection of individual healthcare information. To help keep systems secure companies should:
- Train employees
- Encrypt data
- Back up data
- Monitor usage
- Buy insurance
- Access vendor vulnerability
- Utilize multi-factor authentication
Besides security, it’s useful to focus on patients. Some organizations use health information systems to increase convenience and access for patients, while reducing costs. They can also help enable health promotion, heightening awareness around health education, health screening and prevention of disease, giving individuals better control over their health.
Remember the clinical staff is probably the best resource for health information system decisions. Top-down decision making doesn’t often lead to seamless technology integration. Involve clinicians in deciding how health information systems can be used and which technologies will be best.
Where to Find Out More About Health Information Systems
Visit the following resources for more insights on health information systems:
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
- American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
- WHO Toolkit for Routine Health Information Systems Data (WHO)
- Connecting Public Health Information Systems and Health Information Exchange Organizations (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology)
- Health Information System Strengthening: Standards and Best Practices for Data Sources (Measure Evaluation)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a health information system example?
Examples of health information systems are the patient portals that many hospitals and healthcare facilities make available to their patients. Individuals can look up information, schedule appointments, and interact with healthcare providers through these portals. Patients save time and money while utilizing essential healthcare resources such as accessing test results, obtaining virtual consultations, and getting treatment without leaving their homes.
What is the purpose of healthcare information systems?
The main purpose of healthcare information systems is to facilitate the use and sharing of health-related data so decision-makers can identify problems, make evidence-based choices regarding health policy, and maximize resource allocation. Healthcare information systems are developed and implemented to promote better patient outcomes and ensure scarce resources are used efficiently.
What is the difference between a health information system and an EHR?
An electronic health record (EHR) is an element that can be a component of a larger health information system. Any health information system that uses computers and digital data processes some type of EHR. An EHR typically contains a large amount of sensitive information about an individual and needs to be protected by security measures implemented by the health information system that uses it. The ability of different health information systems to share compatible EHRs facilitates better healthcare delivery and improves patient outcomes.
What are the benefits of health information systems in healthcare?
Many healthcare benefits are available from effectively implemented health information systems:
- Improving patient outcomes by making more health-related information available to individuals
- Enabling limited resources to be used in the ways that best address public health issues
- Controlling costs by sharing data and increasing efficiency
- Enabling collaboration between multiple healthcare facilities and teams to provide optimal patient care
- Helping healthcare providers understand the needs of the patient population and modify procedures and practices to address them effectively
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