Unit 1: Introduction to Computers in Health Information Management Flashcards
electronic health records EHR
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one healthcare organization
Impact of computers on healthcare
Computers allow data collection and information use to improve patient care, research, business practices, education, public health
Increases quality of documentation
Internet
Allows physicians, healthcare professionals, and others to access patient and other information for patient care, billing, and other purposes
Thousands of networks with millions of computers linked together to share data and information
Intranet
Private information network that is similar to the internet in that it uses internet technologies, but is located behind a firewall or security barrier to keep the information from the general public
Usually specific to a facility used by their employees and other authorized individuals
Extranet
A system of connections of private internet networks outside an organizations firewall
Utilizes internet technology to allow external users to access the information system
This is usually what a patient will access to schedule an appointment
Information systems (ISs)
An automated system that uses computer hardware and software to record, manipulate, store, recover, and disseminate data
These systems receive and process input in addition to providing output
Data
Raw facts and figures
ex: blood pressure measurement
Information
Data that have been manipulated into something meaningful
ex: physician interprets blood pressure measurements to diagnose a patient with hypertension; this is information
Dumb terminals
Processing is performed at a server or mainframe
Personal computers PCs
Some or all of the processing occurs in the PC itself
Central processing unit CPU
component of a PC also known as a microprocessor is the computer’s “brain”
Data entry methods that arose in the 80’s and 90’s
Barcodes, speech recognition, touch screens, light pens, microphones
Modern systems
Wireless devices, point of care, computers on wheels (cow) or wireless on wheels (wow)
Interoperability
the ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate; to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently; and to use the information that has been exchanged.
Cloud computing
A system that operates on a computer that is owned and operated by a vendor
