Hcs 482 - Technology and Decision Making

Technology and Decision Making

Joy Carr

HCS/482

April 16, 2012

George De Rosa

Technology and Decision Making

Technology is everywhere! In today's world, technology is an important part of everything. It has an effect on almost all aspects of a person's life, from infancy to end of life. Technology in health care is one of the fastest growing advances in technological science. Computer systems are in every health care facility and used for many purposes, from the simplest process of gathering data down to the expert systems that are assisting physicians. Patients are making informed decisions based upon the technological advances readily that are readily available. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that technology plays in nursing care and its effect on decision making for patients. This paper will include a discussion of systems and informatics theories, the DIK model, and the uses for patient and client management. This paper will also explain expert systems; the use of decision aides, and decision support systems, as well as the effect technology has on health care.

"A Health care Information System supports the provision of care to patients and the business aspects of the health care organization by communicating information," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 150). These systems help provide clearer communication between departments of the health care organization as well as the nurse or physician to patient interaction. According to The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (2002), the tragic events of September 11, 2001, alerted the United States that the development of more health care informatics systems was necessary. The threat of bioterrorism was present, and it was identified that physicians, public health workers, and other responders exposed to disease agents, such as anthrax and smallpox, required fast and effective access to information to deal safely and effectively with the occurrence of such events. At that time, it was determined that larger and more effective informatics systems were needed, and that led to the development of some of the different types of systems and technology that is used in health care settings and organizations in the current day. Computerized systems have been designed to store, organize, analyze, and retrieve a large volume of data should it be information related to the organization and promoting an effective business plan, or related to patient's medical records.

Specialty Support Systems are sub-systems of Ancillary Applications. "Specialty Systems support the radiology, laboratory, dietary, anesthesia, and physical therapy departments," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 153). The various departments in the hospital work in different ways. In the lab department, there are centrifuge machines to separate blood whereas the pharmacy has special logging machines to keep track of medications. Documentation systems keep track of patient demographics, insurance information, and appointments. Other documentation systems provide easy access to document treatment plans and medication administration.

Case management is a good example for the Administrative Support Systems. These support systems help "to locate patients, provide patient demographics, list diagnoses, and identify primary care provider and contact information," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 155-156). These systems help case managers be active advocates for his or her patients and provide the best care for that particular patient.

Every system starts with a theory. "A theory explains the process by which certain phenomena occur," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 4). Theories help understand the various ways ideas can develop and help the health care field to blossom. Opened and closed systems can be found in the systems theory. "Open systems take input from the environment, process the input, and then return output to the environment," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 5). An example of the systems theory would be a computer system.

Information theories can encompass many theories but the Blum's Model is a commonly used example to learn by. Blum's Model discusses the process of grouping data, information, and knowledge. Grouping these three factors together can produce a product which may lead to numerous accomplishments in the health care field. Learning and behavioral theories go hand-in-hand with one another. "Learning Theories attempt to determine how people learn and to identify the factors that influence the learning process," (Engelbardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 15). Behavioral theories will explain why people think the way they do and explain how each person learns.

Processing information and communication are associated with each area of medicine. The DIK (Data, Information, & Knowledge) Model in health care informatics is a model hierarchically arranged with data at the base, information at the intermediate level, and knowledge as the top layer. As data progresses to information and information progresses to knowledge, each layer intertwines (Georgiou, 2002, p. 2). Data is facts and observations. These facts and observations have little meaning on their own. An example of data would be a temperature or blood pressure value. Information is the organization and management of processed data. For example, the patient chart is an organized and managed collection of data. Knowledge is the result when the relationship between the "data and information is formalized" (Englebardt & Nelson, 2002, p. 13).

The progression from data to knowledge is a complex process. At the base the data must be valid and reliable. Knowledge is a "process of induction, deduction, and assessment" (Georgiou, 2002, p.2). Some information is not important. Technology has allowed this process to become more efficient. Technology has increased the speed of changing data to information to knowledge. This process of data progression can go one step further into wisdom. Wisdom involves understanding how to use knowledge to solve or manage human problems. Wisdom is a combination of values, experience, and knowledge. Also technology has improved the organization and management of information leading to greater knowledge and better clinical decision-making. Better decision-making is a benefit displayed in expert systems. During the formation of expert systems, experts in a field can incorporate years of experience, knowledge, and values into the product. Expert systems use this incorporated