Health Information Technology Training
The U.S healthcare system has experienced many changes in its history. The most outstanding achievement in the development of healthcare is the technological standpoint. Technology has played a great role in almost every aspect of the healthcare system (Askin and Moore, 2014). Technology advancement has led to an evolution in the healthcare sector. The arena of healthcare information technology (HIT) has been essential in modern healthcare. Therefore, technological advancements have contributed to changes in modern healthcare.
Health professionals training on Health Information Technology has received much attention as electronic health record adoption grows to a nationwide priority. HIT offers numerous chances for changing and improving healthcare, including refining clinical results, decreasing human errors, trailing data, facilitating care coordination, and boosting practice efficiencies (Stern, 2018). Health information technology has changed varying aspects of health care, from patient encounters to the way physicians dispense medications. Health Information Technology entails various tools, from simple charting to more progressive integration and decision support with medical skill. HIT training will provide new data sources and a broader view of the expanded healthcare system (Stern, 2018). For instance, the physicians will gain real-time knowledge for primary care, enhanced patient management, public health messaging, and electronic monitoring of patients.
The purpose of Health Information Technology training is to familiarize the healthcare professionals with various technologies such as health record systems, personal health tools, smart devices, and apps that facilitate better care for patients. HIT training will enable the healthcare professionals to effectively record the patient data, thus improve the healthcare delivery and allow effective analysis of health information. For instance, the use of HIT in healthcare settings improves the quality of patient care by offering accurate patient records and enables doctors to better understand the medical history of the patient. Understanding the various aspects of health information technology will improve patient care, including effectiveness, safety, communication, patient-centeredness, efficiency, education, and timeliness (Stern, 2018). Understanding the health information technology will enable the delivery of more actionable and accurate patient care and access information linked to the patient’s condition. The health workforce will support shared decisions and establish social support through networks that facilitate more informed and faster decisions linked to health risks.
The Usefulness of the Educational Materials
The workforce development program includes an expanded and updated set of health information technology instructional materials funded by the ONC for health information technology. These materials will enable health professionals to stay current and updated in the changing healthcare environment and deliver care more appropriately. The educational materials have been developed to offer technical, practical, and workflow assistance, including resources and tools that providers can rely on when implementing and optimizing health information technology such as electronic health records.
The ONC tool has offered a comprehensive list of health information technology that has been implemented and certified (Ratwani, Reider, and Singh, 2019). For instance, the materials have highlighted the communication and information systems that have supported the healthcare delivery system. These include an array of systems-engineering tools and techniques used for designing, analyzing, improving, and controlling the modern healthcare delivery system. The health workforce will have a clear thought of how communications and IT facilitate the delivery of effective, safe, timely, efficient, patient-centered, and equitable healthcare. The health information systems include Electronic Health Record systems that link different information resources to patient care, CPOE systems used by physicians to enter drugs, tests, and decision support systems that focus on clinical databases and data sources that gather and store patient information.
The educational materials have also discussed the role of technology and technological advantages, highlighting the disadvantages and advantages in various aspects of health care delivery. For instance, the workforce development program has health IT instruction materials focused on electronic health record implementation. The materials have also highlighted technology advances in the medical office, telemedicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. Generally, the educational materials have focused on modern healthcare in the United States, demonstrating the various health care delivery systems from inpatient to outpatient facilities. The educational materials are appropriate for Health information technology training since they indicate the significant technological advances in healthcare delivery.
HIT Evaluation Toolkit
Health IT training focuses on offering skills and knowledge to the fast-growing healthcare field. Modern healthcare relies on computerized operations in the medical office, patient care services and dispensing of drugs, telemedicine, and electronic health records. The Health IT Evaluation toolkit would be an effective strategy to evaluate the HIT training effectiveness for modern healthcare in the United States (Yen et al., 2017). The evaluation strategy will focus on individual measures that can be incorporated into the health IT plan after training. Therefore, to evaluate the effectiveness of the health IT training, the following changes will be measured after implementation of health IT; Nurses’ duration on patient care, treatment turnaround time, inpatient duration of stay, number of hospital-acquired infections, and complications. The HIT evaluation tool will also measure the dominance of technology by evaluating the success of implementation regarding the efficiency of care, administrative efficiencies, and health care costs.
