The Effectiveness of Health Informatics
Abstract
Health care is complex and there are few sectors that can compare to it
in complexity and in the need for almost instantaneous information
management and access to knowledge resources during clinical
decision-making. There is substantial evidence available of the actual,
and potential, benefits of e-health tools that use computerized
clinical decision support systems (CDSS) as a means for improving
health care delivery. CDSS and associated technologies will not only
lead to an improvement in health care but will also change the nature
of what we call electronic health records (EHR) The technologies that
“define” the EHR will change the nature of how we deliver care in the
future. Significant challenges relating to the evaluation of these
health information management systems relate to demonstrating their
ongoing cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and effects on the quality of
care and patient outcomes. However, health information technology is
still mainly about the effectiveness of processes and process outcomes,
and the technology is still not mature, which may lead to unintended
consequences, but it remains promising and unavoidable in the long run.
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