Free Nursing Informatics Essay Sample
The adoption of health informatics has revolutionized the healthcare industry by enhancing the quality of care and reducing cost of operation. There is no doubt that healthcare providers bear large costs when investing in health informatics. However, the costly investment in health informatics often pays through a number of benefits that providers realize after implementing health information systems such as electronic health records (Shekelle, & Goldzweig, 2009). There are many costs saving benefits that healthcare providers can achieve by implementing health informatics. A wealth of the literature indicates that health informatics cut on costs that health providers incur (Shekelle, & Goldzweig, 2009; Encinosa, & Bae, 2011). By using heath informatics, care providers can cut down their operating budget by reducing employees employed, limiting waste of drugs, reducing the amount of stationery used, and limiting medical errors. Health informatics is responsible for significant reduction in cost involved in the purchase of stationery, which lowers the operating budget.
Health informatics can reduce the cost of purchasing stationery in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. This is because health informatics offers care providers with a paperless environment, which reduces the amount of stationers necessary. While unknown to many people, many healthcare providers budget significant amount of money for the purchase of stationery (Jonietz, 2003). This is because care providers understand the many processes that require stationery for providers to meet the needs of healthcare consumers, but health informatics can reduce these costs tremendously.
First, health informatics can reduce the amount of money spent in purchasing stationery for writing appointments and scheduling. With the use of health informatics, care providers can use electronic appointment and scheduling system tools that will reduce unnecessary cost of purchasing this stationary. This cost saving can help reduce a significant amount of money from the operation budget of the hospital.
In addition, health informatics can also reduce the number of stationery that providers require to admit patients and store their information. A huge portion of funds enables care providers to purchase stationary for admitting patients and storing their information (Jonietz, 2003). Such purchases bloat the operating budget, but health informatics can reduce it considerably. For instance, patient admission and storage of information using personal health records can reduce the need of stationery. This will translate to enormous cost saving for providers with health information systems.
Stationery used in charting patient information is also another target for cost reduction in a paperless environment. In a tradition healthcare environment, clinicians require a lot of paper work to chart patients’ information (Jonietz, 2003). The more the paper needed, the more the cost that providers experience. Although this cost is high, health informatics, provide clinicians with electronic means to chart patients’ information and write comments, as well. This strategy has the potential of reducing cost of stationery that providers require.
Laboratory test and dispensing of drugs make use of many paper records, which cost a lot of money. However, the use of health information can reduce the number of paper records since physicians can use electronic means to store information and prescribe orders (Jonietz, 2003). This means that care providers can reduce costs they incur in purchasing stationery.
In conclusion, heath informatics lowers the costs for healthcare providers. Most importantly, it cuts down on the amount of stationery that healthcare providers use in providing care and achieving other administrative function. Through a paperless environment, health informatics allows care providers lower to considerably their operating budget.