Reflection 2

This second artifact demonstrates further knowledge about the intricacies of electronic

health records. It articulates some of the important standards that are used within the industry,

such as CPT, ICD-10, HL7, SNOMED, and DICOM. In order to be fully proficient as a worker

in the informatics field, understanding of these standards is often required. This artifact within

the informatics curricula at USD has opened my eyes on the varied standards that are needed

within the industry. Each of these systems of identification has its own set of rules that are very

detailed, and maintenance and adherence to the standards is of vital importance. Without

conforming to the standards, different applications within the EHRs will have difficulty in

interpreting and accessing the material. For example, DICOM is used for storing and retrieving

images and patient data. If the system does not have the right conformance to the criteria,

clinicians involved with care for that patient will not be able to access the radiological images

and thus not accurately diagnose the individual.

Most of these standards within the industry operate in the background, and many

individuals take them for granted. Countless hours were spent on developing these criteria in

order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of healthcare delivery, and this artifact made me

realize how important they truly are. I hope to become an analyst working within the healthcare

information systems, and sufficient understanding of how systems connect and talk to each other

is very useful. A goal of many healthcare organizations is being interoperable with other

disparate systems across the country, and these standards that are in place will assist with making

this a reality.