Top Issues Affecting Health Informatics
Preventable medical errors are the number three killer in the US. To fix this epidemic, the Federal Government has required the healthcare industry to use electronic health records (EHRs) to improve processes and outcomes for patients. Due to recent trends, like the use of technology to collect personal health information, there is a huge amount of data that could be used to improve outcomes and quality while lowering overall costs.
However, this push to improve the healthcare systems will not be fully realized until the issues of data governance and data stewardship are more specifically outlined. A data steward is a person who collects, analyzes, and uses health data. The data steward must be knowledgeable about the regulations and laws that govern it. However, public policy is not keeping up with the demand for data sharing. The industry needs to set up a system to share personal health information while properly protecting patient privacy.
