Amanda Neve

Health 302
Health Informatics Definitions
2/1/2020

1. In your own words, what is health informatics?

Providing care for patients has become very data oriented. There is a lot of data
available on a patient that can easily get lost. Health Informatics is a way to organize
data for patients in a way that is helpful for providers, if done well it can help bring
positive outcomes to the workplace.

2. Please define data, information, and knowledge. How are each of these terms
different?

Data is the outcome of a specific test, in regards to lab work the number connected to
what was being tested.

Information is processed data. Information is taking the data and organizing it in a way
that one can understand what the results mean.

Knowledge is taking the processed data along with the concepts a person has learned
to make a smart decision about what to do next. An example of this is a physician taking
the processed data, or lab report, reviewing the information, and then using the
knowledge obtained from past and present to make a choice about care for the patient.

3. What is medical informatics? Medical informatics is very similar to health

informatics. Medical informatics is specific to anything regarding the medical care of the
patient. Tests, medications, labs, documentation of vitals etc. Where Health informatics
would also include things such as insurance and billing information.

4. What are the types of data and information included in health informatics (hint: see
PPT slide on types of healthcare information)?

The type of data included in health informatics can be Internal Data, or External Data.
Internal Data is information about the patient or the visit, whether that be in a hospital or
in an office. This could include things like lab tests, prescription drugs, treatment plans.
Any physician notes or encounters would be included here. External Data includes
things like patient satisfaction surveys, practice patterns such as dartmouth atlas. Joint
Commision would be considered external data, they come into facilities and score them
on protocols and give input on where improvements must be made.

5. What type of careers do you think are included in this field? Do any of these appeal
to you?

I think that analysts would be included in this career, along with computer
program developers. Those two together would be a good team in creating a product
that could be beneficial to providers. Neither of these jobs interest me. An analyst
seems like a CPA to me, which reminds me of taxes, and I do not like paying taxes, ha!

6. Define and describe the differences between an EHR, PHR, and EMR.

EHR- An Electronic Health Record collects and stores patient data. This is a tool used
to get the patients information to the providers. The program allows order entry
physicians to put in orders that technicians can see and then process. Use of EHR has
been shown to help decrease medication errors. In recent years the program has also
increased surveillance to protect patients personal information.

PHR- A Personal Health Record is controlled by the individual. This record can be
lifelong. Helps reduce duplicate tests, improves communication between physician and
patient on what has happened in the past. People are able to get it customized to the
content they are interested in organizing.

EMR- An Electronic Medical Record used within a specific organization. This helps
reduce errors from bad handwriting, and allows a person to get information from
wherever they are.