Information Technology in Healthcare: Applications and Role

The Growing Significance of Health Information Technology

From anesthetics and antibiotics to MRI scanners and radiotherapy, health information technology (HIT) is transforming patient care in unprecedented ways. Customized healthcare applications, medical practice management software, remote patient monitoring technology, and other health information systems in hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities allow healthcare providers to stay relevant and competent amidst the waves of change.

“Information is the lifeblood of medicine and health information technology is destined to be the circulatory system for that information.”

With a fair understanding of the key applications and role of information technology in healthcare, physicians, hospital networks, medical practitioners, and caregivers can successfully leverage health IT to reduce costs and improve the overall quality and effectiveness of patient care and experience.

What is Information Technology in Healthcare?

Health Information Technology (HIT or HCIT) is a key segment of healthcare as well as IT that involves the design, development, implementation, usage, and maintenance of information systems and software solutions for the healthcare industry.

Information technology in healthcare encompasses a wide range of functions, including and not limited to:

• Health information management across computing devices and platforms for hospitals, clinics, healthcare providers, and other medical centers
• Secure exchange of health information between consumers, providers, payers, insurers, and quality monitors
• Hardware and software solutions used to store, retrieve, share, and analyze healthcare information, medical data, and knowledge for seamless communication and decision-making
• Healthcare software used to manage daily clinical operations and administrative tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs and errors
• Remote/ virtual health monitoring and consulting solutions, medical mobile apps, online medical records, wearables, and self-management tools to facilitate personalized care

• Market size as of 2022: $394.6 billion
• Estimated value by 2027: $974.5 billion
• Projected Compound Annual Growth Rate: 19.8%
• Key market drivers: e-prescribing, telehealth, mHealth, and other HCIT solutions

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Types of Health Information Technology

Health information technology collectively refers to the different types of software systems used by healthcare professionals, care providers, and sometimes patients, to store, share, and analyze health information. There are different types of Health IT systems.

#1 Electronic Health Records (EHR)

EHRs or electronic medical record (EMR) systems are used to document and store a patient’s medical information, such as their health reports, diagnosis results, allergies, laboratory charges, treatment history, and so on.

• Medical practitioners can quickly access a patient’s EMR using a mobile or computer
• Physicians can easily share data across different departments to provide quick and accurate treatment

• Digital creation and management of health records eliminate tedious paperwork and reduce the errors caused by manual documentation
• Easy to avoid medical errors since the same kind of health information is shared across all departments

#2 Medical Practice Management Systems

Medical practice management software is used to manage the different administrative and clinical aspects of your practice such as handling the documents pertaining to your facility, scheduling appointments, billing and payments, report generation, insurance eligibility verification, and other day-to-day tasks.

• Automate routine clerical tasks such as scheduling appointments, billing & payment processing, claims administration, and other related procedures for managing your facility
• Streamline the workflow for doctors and clinical staff, so that they can spend more time with their patients and less time on administrative tasks

• Automate the process of stocking and distributing medical inventory and tracking the products dispensed to patients
• Generate detailed clinical performance reports to analyze the financial health of your medical practice and take the next steps to improve your cash flow

#3 E-prescribing Software

Doctors can use the e-prescribing software to generate and share prescriptions with their patients online or send the prescriptions directly to the pharmacy in just a few clicks. This saves the time and effort for both the patient as well as the pharmacist.

• Eliminates the need to create handwritten notes by generating legible prescriptions online
• Avoids mix-up, loss, or misplacement of prescriptions and ensures the pharmacist supplies the right medicines to the patient

• Makes it easier to track a patient's medication history with the help of a pharmacy’s database

#4 Remote Patient Monitoring Tools

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a kind of homecare telehealth that allows patients or their bystanders to use wearables or mobile medical devices to gather patient-generated health data and send it to healthcare professionals for virtual monitoring and diagnosis.

• Glucometers for patients with diabetes
• IoT-based surveillance monitors to locate patients with critical conditions like dementia and alert healthcare professionals in case of an event like a fall
• Blood pressure monitors and heart rate monitors

• Post-operative cardiac monitoring devices for homecare
• Smart watches and wrist brands to track daily exercise routines and caloric intake

#5 Medical Billing Software

Medical billing software consists of tools that simplify billing-related workflows for healthcare facilities. It helps handle invoicing tasks, patient billing, insurance coverage verification and claims processing, patient demographics, creation of financial reports, and more.

• Facilitates proper information storage, reduces time-consuming paperwork, and increases convenience for the clinic staff and patients
• Streamlines clinical and administrative processes, improves staff productivity, and provides faster turnaround times for claims processing

• Improves overall clinical process efficiency by automating the steps involved in billing & invoicing, payment reminders, information management, claims, and reimbursements

Benefits of IT in the Healthcare Industry

The ultimate goal of information technology in healthcare is to enhance the overall health of the population by improving the quality of care that patients receive. Applying information technology in healthcare offers a lot of benefits.

• Provides healthcare professionals with accurate, actionable, and accessible information related to their patients’ health
• Facilitates enhanced communication and shared decision-making between patients and healthcare providers
• Accurate maintenance and update of medical data and patient history across multiple platforms will reduce costly medical errors
• Up-to-date health information management ensures that every patient gets access to personalized care and treatment
• Enables faster and more informed decisions concerning health-related risks
• Healthcare applications provide easier access to explicit care guidelines and physician-recommended treatments
• Allows nursing professionals to focus more on the care they provide thereby reducing the chances for medical negligence
• Expands the collaboration between medical professionals by minimizing errors and miscommunication
• Better medication management and easier access for patients to their medical records
• Helps build social support networks for both patients as well as healthcare professionals
• Improves awareness among patients as well as the general public about health-related matters that can lead to positive outcomes

Web Application for Health Insurance Decision Makers: A Case Study

In a world of complex and ever-changing healthcare dynamics, health insurance decision-makers often find themselves caught in a web of challenges. Casenet, a leading provider of population health technology solutions in the US sought a dependable ally- a tool that would empower them to sustain their business, optimize day-to-day operations, and unearth untapped user segments.

Fingent emerged as the transformative force, turning their struggles into resounding triumphs with the advent of TruCare Insights. This cutting-edge web application became the catalyst for empowering decision-makers with real-time insights and robust analytics. Seamlessly integrating with their existing systems, TruCare Insights revolutionized the management and exploration of data. It unveiled a suite of action-oriented dashboards and management tools, allowing leaders to monitor operations and streamline team workflows. The result was a powerful transformation.

• Real-time insights and analytics empowered decision-makers to make well-informed choices.
• Enhanced focus on the specific requirements of healthcare payer organizations.
• A user-friendly interface enabled seamless data exploration and analysis.
• Substantial increase in new sales was achieved.