Healthcare Informatics Discussions

My Experience with Informatics (Week 2)

• Provide at least two examples of how nursing informatics has affected the nursing profession.
• Explain how these examples affect the care provided to patients.

The Internet: Privacy and Safety Concerns (week 3)

• Provide at least two examples of how institutions protect Internet-based patient information and promote patient privacy.
• What specifically can nurses do to protect patient privacy when using the Internet?

Informatics and Patient Safety (week 4)

• Describe two examples of patient safety improvement through the use of health care informatics. Specifically, how did health care Informatics improve patient safety in each example?

Planning for a New Informatics System (week 5)

• What strategies are used for initiating new information technology projects?
• What should be taken into consideration when selecting a new informatics system?
• Explain what interfacing, integration, and interoperability mean.

EHR and the Quality of Nursing (week 6)

• How can an EHR positively impact the quality of nursing care?
• What are potential concerns that EHRs bring to nursing care quality? How can these concerns be addressed?

The Impact of Personal Health Records (week 7)

Read the scenario.

Cindy is a 57-year-old single female who works as a graphic designer. She describes herself as shy and reserved. She weighs 358 lb and is 5′ 8″ tall. She has recently lost her mother and is greatly concerned about improving her own health. She has been diagnosed with the following conditions: type II diabetes, hypertension, and asthma.

For each condition, she sees a different provider in a different health care institution. However, all of the institutions are affiliated with a large regional health care system. Cindy takes five prescription medications for her conditions and fills them at three different pharmacies, each located near one of her providers. In the past, she has kept her medical records in a box in her closet. She has become frustrated with the lack of communication among her providers and her relationship with them.

Respond to the following question based on this week’s lesson.

• What types of individuals typically have a personal health record (PHR)?
• How could a PHR help Cindy better manage her diagnoses?
• How do you feel that Cindy’s patient satisfaction could be improved through the use of a PHR?

Telehealth and Nursing (week 8)

• Describe at least two ways that telehealth could be used with a particular patient population.
• How would telehealth improve the quality of patient care, patient outcomes, and/ or patient satisfaction?
• How would telehealth impact nursing practice?

Confidentiality and the Protection of Patient Information (week 9)

• What is confidentiality? How is confidentiality impacted by HIPAA?
• Describe at least one incident when confidential information within an informatics system was improperly disclosed. If you have not had this experience, describe at least one opportunity for potential improper disclosure of confidential information within an informatics system.
• What additional security measures do you feel would further protect patient information in clinical practice?

Informatics Meets Health Care Policy (week 10)

• Explain at least two federal laws (health care policies) that have implications for health care informatics. Specifically, what are their implications for health care informatics?
• What role do nurses play in health care policy that pertains to informatics?

Recovery Following a Disaster (week 11)

• Describe at least two ways data from health care informatics systems can be saved for retrieval following a disaster.
• Describe at least one financial and one nonfinancial cost associated with a disaster that affects health care informatics systems