Afua Aning is a physician informaticist.
In the bustling city of New York lived a young woman named Emily. Emily wasn’t a health care provider or even remotely associated with the medical field. She worked as a graphic designer, spending her days creating stunning visuals for advertising campaigns.
One evening, while browsing the internet, Emily stumbled upon an article titled “Why Everyone Should Care About Health Care Informatics, Even if You’re Not in the Medical Field.” Curiosity …
In the digital age, health care informatics has emerged as a pivotal field, transforming the landscape of health care delivery and management. This discipline, crucial for both professionals within the health care sector and the general public, leverages technology to optimize patient care, streamline operations, and address the burgeoning demands for an efficient and effective health care system.
Unveiling health care informatics
Health care informatics, as defined by the American Medical Informatics …
Predicting specific developments in health care informatics for 2024 is challenging, but trends suggest continued advancements in AI-driven diagnostics, personalized medicine, and enhanced interoperability for seamless data exchange among health care systems. The emphasis on cybersecurity to protect sensitive health data will also likely increase.
AI-driven diagnostics are likely to see advancements in accuracy and efficiency. Improved algorithms will enable faster and more precise analysis of medical data, such as diagnostic …
ChatGPT and Epic Systems
This year’s buzzword in academic and now business technology is ChatGPT. Epic Systems, Microsoft, and OpenAI (the owners of ChatGPT) have announced the release of the next evolution in artificial intelligence (AI) called GPT-4. This new system integrates AI with electronic health records with the hopes of advancing medical care and associated services.
In-basket messaging is the first section of electronic health records that will be significantly changed. …
I recently had an opportunity to assist a hospital organization with its electronic health records implementation in Las Vegas. I’m usually working non-stop during implementations, but I was ecstatic when I could get a break from work to sightseeing. I arranged with a tour bus to explore the Grand Canyon (I’m not much into gambling).
I reported to the tour bus at 6 a.m. and was ushered inside the remarkably comfortable …
It was a warm summer in Maine but felt like a cold winter in the confines of the hospital building. I was seated next to a physician who was quietly working on a big screen monitor. It was a slow workday as I pondered tips and tricks to make the physician workflow efficient while training providers on implementing electronic health records. I stared at the computer screen and the physician …
Nurse: “I need help with the computer; patient transfer needs to be completed.”
Me: “Ma’am, the patient’s medications are on ‘MAR HOLD,’ which means Medication Administration Record Hold. Therefore, we cannot administer medication unless an attending physician releases this hold. Can we get the physician on the phone for him to reconcile the meds?”
Nurse: Reluctant to call the physician, insists on completing the transfer at the unit manager screen. Finally, she …
Smartwatch wearers: Have you checked your smartwatch lately? Did it tell you how many steps you have or how fast your heart is beating? How accurate is the information? What does that number mean for your overall health, and where do all of those numbers go after they are reported back to your computer?
The health care industry is under constant pressure to securely store patient information and still have it …
A 65-year-old female presents to the emergency department (ED) with contusion from a fall at work. She has no loss of consciousness. Two other employees at her workplace, the cardiac floor of the same hospital as the ED, witnessed the fall. The patient has a previous medical history of fatigue, GI issues, and appetite loss for the last two days. She also has anemia which her primary care physician is …
This summer, I got the opportunity to interview Dr. Nathan Gause. I saw how passionate he is about serving his community and developing young African American physicians and scientists. He has excellent knowledge and a wealth of experience. I felt compelled to write about Dr. Gause and his dual role as an orthopaedic surgeon and chief medical information officer (CMIO) at the University of Missouri Health Care …
Fun fact: The first recorded use of electric stimulation to ease pain was in … get ready … CE 46! That’s right, nearly 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman writer Scribonius Largus described the use of torpedo fish, aquatic animals capable of electrical discharge, to heal. This system is still as common in health care settings as a conventional TENS Unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). Similarly, many health care IT innovations …
Is your health care organization reeling from a bad EHR implementation?
There have been rumblings from hospital leadership and congressional committees about the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals’ implementation of the Cerner Corporation electronic health record (EHR) replacing the VistA EHR. The $10 million EHR overhaul has been controversial since the staggered rollout started in Spokane, Washington. One report noted that months after the go-live, fewer users knew how to operate the …
One of the leading reasons for provider frustration is prior authorizations. The insurance companies initially created prior authorization (prior auth) to keep down the cost of care when a service fee was the primary payment method for payers. However, it has become a hindrance for providers and staff as they spend hours waiting for authorization to provide medical care.
In the past, hospital organizations needed approval (prior authorization) from an insurance …
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