5 Ways in Which Health Information Management Affects Quality Patient Care

The importance of health information management lies in striking that all important balance between managing the financials and providing the best care possible to all patients. A student with a bachelors in health information management from an accredited university is trained to do exactly that and it makes him/her an indispensable resource for any medical institution. Read on to properly understand the ways in which the health information department impacts the quality of patient care in a healthcare institution.

Record Keeping and Access

Health informaticists not only assist in keeping medical records; they also advise and often implement ways in which the healthcare institution can move forward into the digital age with the help of software-based management systems. In fact, it is largely due to the efforts of health informaticists in the past few years that a lot of the facilities in the United States now offer their patients the ability to access their private medical records online.

Privacy of Medical Information

The amount of sensitive medical and personal data that every healthcare institution has access to is still private and it’s illegal to access them without proper authorization. The health informatics department is tasked with not only keeping those records like we discussed in the previous point but is also responsible for keeping them safe from unauthorized access and data theft.

Data Analysis

The tremendous amount of data at the disposal of the health informaticists is put into use by the professionals to figure out patterns, highs, and lows in regard to the health care provided by the institution. That data is then used to improve patient care and better prepare the establishment to deal with present problems and prepare for the ones in future. The analysis of financial data is also part of the job description for the health information team and their findings and suggestions are used to determine the establishment’s next steps in further improving the financial performance.

HIPAA Compliance

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance is no joke and every institution must follow their data safety measures to the letter. However, these are not simple instructions to follow and implement on a regular basis. Fortunately, those that have completed an online HIM degree are well-trained and equipped to understand the disclosure policies, breach notification programs, and data encryption requirements as applicable.

Simplification and Standardization

The job of the healthcare informaticist includes translating and writing clinical data down in a way so that it can be understood and used by the concerned parties like insurance representatives and the patients. They simplify without foregoing any necessary information. Their job also includes helping patients with understanding bills and fee structures that might seem too complicated to the uninitiated.

As you can imagine, the role of the health information department is critical in modern medical care and no facility can hope to function efficiently without having an efficient team of health informaticists working for them. This is also the reason behind why health information professionals are so much in demand nowadays.