Essay Example: History of Information Management and Informatics in Medicine

Health information management refers to the collection and analysis of healthcare related data, for purposes of obtaining information about the patient and health care decisions that determines the success of recovery of the patients. The earliest types of medical (health information) records were accounts composed by antiquated Greeks to archive effective cures, share perceptions about manifestations and results, and show other people who gave therapeutic exhortation through these contextual analyses (Collen & Ball, 2015). As medicinal (healthcare) services advanced, doctors understood that the most ideal approach to keep enhancing diagnosing and treating diseases was to painstakingly report perceptions and activities while treating patients and share this data as an approach to instruct other wellbeing experts.

In 1600, doctors offered guidance on the most proficient method to introduce data in a restorative record, however it was not until 1928 that the American College of Surgeons (ACOS) found a way to institutionalize the developing number of medicinal records by setting up the American Association of Record Librarians (AARL) referred to today as the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) (Magnuson, 2014). "Record bookkeepers" was the term utilized on the grounds that early restorative records were reported on paper.

Impact of Technology in Information Management and Informatics

In the earlier days the medical history of patients were stored in files and in most cases finding the files could be tiresome and a tedious work. The information was prone to getting lost and possibilities of alterations on the documents was easy since they were documented and hand written (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). Technology in the information management sector has enabled most of the practitioners to have ease of access to the patients medical information that is kept in safe environs away from alterations.

The relevant information on the patients can also be availed to the doctors within seconds as the implemented software process information in a matter of seconds. Additionally, the data can be accessed if need be from anywhere across the globe provided the people in-charge have allocated the links and passwords for the servers or the information could be downloaded with ease at any given point in time.

How Technology has increased the need for Proper Management

It is safe state that as healthcare systems develop and extend to incorporate different medical provision centers, doctor practices and outpatient facilities, and as the volume of information develops with extension, the need to coordinate and blend information to make it accessible to all clients is basic (Magnuson, 2014). Finding the correct stage to help and empower access to organized and unstructured information crosswise over divergent frameworks is the initial step to better planning for an esteem based future.

Therefore, the introduction of technology has increased the need for and importance of proper management since the organization and safety of the medical data enables the medical practitioners to effectively administer the right kind of medication that in most cases can be determined through the medical history managed by the various management systems implemented in the hospitals (Shortliffe & Cimino, 2013). Moreover, the need for proper management is enhanced since with technology time taken to find the right file on a specific patient is reduced tremendously as opposed to the manual systems.

Conclusion

The history of healthcare information management and informatics has evolved significantly over the years, technology has played an important role in the management and protection of the medical information that can be accessed and presented within the shortest time possible for analysis and administration of effective medication.

References

Collen, M. F., & Ball, M. J. (2015). The History of Medical Informatics in the United States. Springer.

Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education India.

Magnuson, J. A. (2014). Public health informatics and information systems. P. C. Fu (Ed.). London, UK: Springer.

Shortliffe, E. H., & Cimino, J. J. (2013). Biomedical informatics: computer applications in health care and biomedicine. Springer Science & Business Media.