Health Systems and Management Term Paper

Introduction

Health system is a broad term that can be used to refer to various things. It can be broadly be used to refer to the workforce, organizations and generally the strategies put forth by governments in order to promote effective and efficient delivery of prevention and treatment services. Health systems have the sole aim of responding to the needs of people as well as their expectations through provision of services.

The services are offered in a manner that will ensure that there is fairness and equity among all the beneficiaries. Health system can also be defined as every activity that is done with the single objective of promotion, restoration and maintenance of people’s health.

Another more broad definition of health system incorporates health-related factors such as education and the poverty level of a given population into the definition of health systems. Moreover, other factors, for instance, infrastructure and the environment, both social and political, where people live are also part of what a health system is.

The area of medical science has grown significantly over the recent past. In most institutions where healthcare is provided, there is still a lot of paper work that is being done. This has been a major impediment in the delivery of quality healthcare. There is therefore the need for new technology to be implemented in order for the health system to be more effective and efficient.

This paper shall discuss innovation of new technologies in the healthcare system and the reasons for selecting this issue shall also be discussed. A literature review of implementation of new technologies in nursing shall then be done. In conclusion, how information technology impacts on healthcare policy, how it influences healthcare needs and its implication on the future healthcare practice shall be discussed.

Identification of the issue

There has been an increase in the number of innovations being introduced in the healthcare industry. The aim of introduction of these innovations into the health care system has been to enhance life expectancy, improve the quality of life and help physicians to have more options in diagnosing and treating the sick.

Additionally, these innovations have been aimed at increasing the efficiency and enhance cost effectiveness in healthcare deli very systems. Information technology is one of the areas that have played a major role in the innovations related to healthcare systems.

According to Wakefield, Flanafan and Specht (2001), innovation in healthcare is a major issue as healthcare providers strive to create a balance between the cost of embracing these innovations and providing quality healthcare to the people. Innovation is also considered as one of the crucial requirements of any business, including those in the healthcare, for increased productivity and survival.

Adoption of technological developments by healthcare providers presents them with numerous opportunities and gives them a competitive advantage over the rest in the same business environment.

Innovations are important to the survival of any organization because they are some of the avenues that organizations use to increase their revenues (Varkey Horne and Bennet, 2008). Moreover, innovations help in protecting and improving the quality of services provided.

Definition of innovation

Innovation can be defined as the deliberate introduction and use of new ideas, way of doing things or product that was previously non existent with the aim of increasing the benefits to individual or the society at large.

In healthcare systems, innovation can be defined as introduction of new services, ways of doing things and/or new technologies that were not there before. According to Gupta (2008), the introduction and application of these is intended to benefit the patients through improved health care as well as reduced suffering during illness.

According to Omachonu and Einspruch (2009), there are two types of innovations namely: non-disruptive and disruptive. Non-disruptive innovations improve on the existing structures in order to make them more efficient and effective. Disruptive innovations on the other hand cause a complete disorder in the existing system through introduction of a brand new way of doing things.

Omachonu and Einspruch (2009) further note that innovations can be implemented relating to the following areas: the product, the process, marketing and the organization. Innovations adopted in healthcare systems are as discussed in the following paragraphs. The product innovations: this is basically what the customer is willing to spend their money on.

These are typically goods or services. Innovation in the process refers to innovation related to the mode of production or delivery of goods and services. Although the customers do not pay for the processes involved in the production of goods and services, it is still a major and important component in the manufacture of the ready products.

Structural innovations refer to changes that the internal and external structures that an organization undergo. Information technology remains to be one of the major innovations in healthcare (Lehoux et al, 2008). Due to improved network security and the capability to send images and data to any part of the world, there has been a great need to change how things are done in the healthcare systems.

Reasons for selecting innovation as an issue in nursing

One of the millennium development goals deals with improved health among people universally. For this to be achieved by the year 2015, it is of great importance to have a healthy system that is functioning very well.

Certain things are necessary if heath systems are to be in a position to provide all the services that are necessary. Provision of universal access to health care services is not an easy task and certain measures need to taken to achieve this.

Challenges faced by countries are not uniform across all regions globally. The developing countries tend to face more challenges in having a strong health system compared to the developed countries.

The developing countries face a challenge in their attempt to build a robust health system that can be relied upon by the people. Some of these challenges faced by these countries are mainly financial, problems related with the coordination of agencies, an information system that does not function appropriately, inadequate workforce and running out of essential supplies.

According to Welton (2003), inadequate workforce is on of the major challenges that most countries are facing in their attempt to meet the millennium development goals. This inadequacy contributes greatly to weakening of the health systems that are already in existence as well as hindering expansion of the necessary services.

This problem is especially worse in the sub-Saharan region in Africa, where it is estimated that 15 countries face an acute shortage of physicians. In these countries, the ration of physician to that of the population that depends on the physician’s services is 5:100 000. In some regions in Africa, the number of physicians attending to a population of over 100 000 people is less than five.

It is the duty of both private and public sectors to look for ways to deal with the challenges facing the developing countries in their quest for effective health systems. Since the challenges faced by developing countries are unique to these countries, these sectors should look for unique methods of dealing with these challenges.

This will help in the development and maintenance of an effective health system in these countries. This is very important because in most of the countries that are still developing, only half or less than half the population can comfortably access the public health care system s that have been put in place to cater for their needs.

When there are strong health systems in place, it is easy to respond to people’s needs and what they expect from the health sector. Provision of services should be done in an equitable and a fair manner. This is an important step in improving the health of people relying upon these services.

It is also important to ensure that necessary interventions have been implemented. Some of these interventions include making sure that the right leadership and governance team is in place, being guaranteed of an uninterrupted supply of supplies needed and ensuring that they systems responsible for delivery are highly effective and efficient.

There is a major challenge experienced by health systems in their attempt to provide care and in intervening in issues related to health care at all levels. Innovative solutions are needed to enhance delivery of high quality care (Tappier and Childers, 2005). Targeted research on health care systems and management is also very vital in curbing the numerous problems experienced in the health sector globally.

Innovation in relation to nursing

Most of personal details and health information of patients are contained in papers. A lot of income in healthcare institutions is used to cater for the paper work. Despite the high cost associated with this paperwork, the likelihood of making errors is very high. The use of electronic recordkeeping is very vital in reduction of the costs and errors associated with paperwork.

When a patient’s information is documented on papers only, sharing of such information if a second opinion is needed becomes very hard (Grose, 2008). If a health provider fails to get all the health information of a patient, they may be unable to provide the patient with the right diagnosis.

It is important for the healthcare systems to have innovations that can help physicians and other healthcare providers to be in a position to share imaging as well as results from a lab test with their colleagues both locally and internationally. Patients should also be in a position to have unlimited access to their medical records and carry the record from one health provider to another whenever it is necessary.

Conrick (2006) observes that in addition to electronic recordkeeping, other innovations have also flooded the area of healthcare systems.

Some of the new technologies in the field of healthcare include new digital information, nanotechnology and genetic engineering among many others, which have had a great impact on the healthcare systems by improving the existing processes. These new technologies are aimed at improving the process of care delivery, prescription of medicines, certain medical procedures and surgeries in health centers.

According Omachonu and Einspruch (2009), the aging population is very vulnerable to illnesses that require specialized treatment with modern technology. The increasing number of people across all ages who are suffering from lifestyle illnesses such as obesity has also necessitated the need for increased healthcare costs.

Some of these people need to undergo certain processes that require modern equipment to treat the illnesses they may be suffering from. Physicians may decide to seek for a second opinion from their colleagues before administering any treatment and this may be difficult if they need urgent intervention and the colleagues are far away.

Innovation has helped to make work easier in such a case because it is possible to share the patient’s details with colleagues through some of the technological innovations that have been introduced in the healthcare.

How information Technology has influenced healthcare needs

Due to introduction of information technology in the healthcare systems, there has been an increase in offshore services. Outsourcing of important medical services such as x-rays and advice from specialists has been on the increase recently. Physicians in the US widely use telemedicine in their day to day activities. They use this technology to attend to patients in areas that are not easily accessible or in isolated cases.

Telemedicine is a cost effective innovation in the medical field that helps to reduce workload. A good example of telemedicine is the use of teleradiology. During this process, an x-ray is usually taken on the patient and the result forwarded to the doctor in another location to work on it.

Teleradiology is a very essential innovation in the healthcare system because of the shortage of radiologists that is witnessed in many healthcare centers. Moreover, as more people continue to age, their vulnerability to certain diseases that require one to go through radiology services increases.

Additionally, there is an increase in the number of emergency cases that healthcare providers have to deal with on daily basis, both during the day and at night. This necessitates the availability of an effective way of helping patients go through processes such as radiology and have the imaging checked by a specialist. Teleradiology is able to cater for this need effectively.

The need for creation of a medical record that a patient can travel with globally, without it being problematic to the other doctors due to language barrier can only be met through adoption of relevant information technology systems into the healthcare. This means that health information systems have to be designed in such a way that the encryption and software used can exchange data electronically with other systems.

The need to have a system to monitor drug safety globally has also increased. Information technology can help in the sharing of any information relation to drug safety, especially as people travel abroad. The need for this is great because there is no single agency that is mandated with the role of collecting and sharing this information across different countries globally.

According to Simpson (2002) information technology helps in catering for the need of high quality information by doctors and patients as well. Recently, websites to provide doctors with any information they need have been set up.

They include a website such as WebMD, whose main contributors of information are doctors and specialists in various areas (Sweeney et al, 2008). Automated search tools also help in retrieving information from medical books and journals that are available online.

How innovation has influenced healthcare policy

Clark (2008) observes that medical technology is recognized as something that plays a major role in ensuring that there is an improved health care system as well as increased cost. There have been concerns about the necessity for advanced research on new medical technology and its cost effectiveness has led to governments setting up centers to look into the matter and come up; with the findings.

In the US, for example, the National Center for Health Care Technology was created and mandated with the role of doing more research on the cost effectiveness on the new medical technology that is increasingly being introduced into the healthcare system. However, there were concerns that such a center would hinder the growth of technological innovation in the healthcare system and it was closed down.

According to Riezenman (2008), adoption of new technology into the healthcare systems has led to increased expenditures on the health sector by governments.

The amount of money allocated by different governments on the health sector has been increased due to the rising demands of innovation in the health sector which translates to increased expenditures. A substantial amount of income that nations get is used in the healthcare sector.

Landro (2008) notes that the designing and introduction of a program known as The master of Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management, which is meant to equip healthcare providers for any challenges that they may face e due to the increased innovation in the healthcare sector is also a step that most governments are taking to ensure that innovation is properly integrated into the system.

This program prepares those undertaking it to be innovative. According to American Nurses Association (2008), this would help them to bring a change in the current healthcare systems and influence future developments.

Implications of innovation on the future of healthcare practice

Technological innovations in the healthcare system are expected to produce new medical services in the future. This is expected to increase the amount of money that the government as well as the individual spends on healthcare. This means that people will be faced with a difficult choice to make. People will have a difficulty in balancing between spending on healthcare and of other services since the cost of healthcare is expected to rise.

Due to the improved technology as a result of innovation in healthcare, it is expected that it will be easier for diseases that were not able to be detected using the existing technology to be easily diagnosed and treated at an early stage although this would mean an increase costs incurred.

Conclusion

The influence of innovation, particularly information technology, on nursing is very remarkable. This means that practitioners in the healthcare sector are supposed to be conversant with the latest technologies that are being introduced into the health sector. This revolution has not come without its own unique challenges.

For example, it has significantly contributed to the increased costs witnessed in the government budgets as well as the amount individuals spend on healthcare. The amount of money spent on healthcare is expected to increase in future as more innovations continue to be introduced in the healthcare sector.

Reference List

American Nurses Association. (2008). Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice. Washington, DC: Author.

Clark, D. (2008). Intel Takes Step Into Home Health Care. The Wall Street Journal, p. B3.

Conrick, M. (2006). Health informatics: Transforming healthcare with technology. Melbourne, Australia: Thomson Social Science Press.

Grose, T. K. (2008). Life Support Systems. Prism Magazine.org, pp. 35-39.

Gupta, A. (2008). ―Prescription for Change. The Wall Street Journal, October 20, p. R6.

Landro, L. (2008). ―The Hospital Is Watching You. The Wall Street Journal, p. D4.

Lehoux, P., Williams-Jones, B., Miller, F., Urbach, D., and Tailliez, S. (2008). What leads to better health care innovation? Arguments for an integrated policy-oriented research agenda. Journal of Health Services Research & policy, (4)13: 251-254.

Omachonu, V. K., and Einspruch, N.G. (2009). Innovation: Implications for Goods and Services. Accepted for publication, International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management.

Riezenman, M. J. (2008). Robots in Rehab. The Institute, p. 6.

Simpson, R. (2002). IT alleviates health care’s “healing crisis”. Nursing Management, 33(7), 8-9.

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Varkey, P., Horne, A., and Bennet, K. E. (2008). Innovation in Health Care: A Primer. American Journal of Medical Quality, vol. 23: 382-388.

Wakefield, B., Flanafan, J., and Specht, P. (2001). Telehealth: An opportunity for gerontological nursing practice. Journal of Gerontolotical Nursing, 27 (1), 10-4.

Welton, R. (2003). Nurses’ working conditions and the nursing shortage. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288 (13), 1632.