LESSON 9:
SYSTEMS
HOSPITAL
INFORMATION
HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
➢ Healthcare plays a vital role in society
and people expect efficiency from health
care providers and health institutions
face the challenge of handling the
numerous patients that seek their
services. Proper management of clinical
and operational records is therefore
necessary. Presently, most hospitals
have shifted from tedious manual
recording to the use of a hospital
information system (HIS) to assist them
in maintaining the different records of
the institution.
Hospital information system (HIS) is a
computer system structured to manage all the
records of health care providers to make
available information and reports useful to
health care personnel in doing their job more
efficiently. HIS was introduced in the 1960s and
has evolved since then to cope with the
changes and demands of the modern times.
Back then, the features of HIS were used
mainly for billing and inventory. However, all of
these have changed through time. Today’s
system is also integrated with other financial,
scientific, and administrative programs.
The modern HIS has applications built to
address the needs of the various departments
of health facilities such as nursing, pharmacy,
finance, radiology, and pathology. There are
hospitals with as many as 200 disparate
systems integrated into their HIS. Hospitals
using the HIS experience efficiency in
accessing reliable patient information with just
a few clicks. However, advancements and new
developments will be rendered useless if the
system is not user-friendly and training is
inadequate.
While HIS delivers high quality patient care and
better management of financial records, it
needs to be affordable, scalable, and centered
on the needs of patients and medical
personnel. It should be adaptable to rapid
technological changes. An effective HIS also
provides enhanced
integrity of
facts,
minimization of transcription error and
duplication of records, and shorter turnaround
times for reports.
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HIS available today links computers that are
capable of quickly optimizing operations and
delivering quality service. The systems gather,
process, retrieve patient information, and
the particular needs of the departments and
centralize them into the system. However, a
hospital should provide their requirements in
detail to the HIS provider during the initial
stages of scoping so that their needs will be
met and accurately provided. For example, the
institution could ask that the solution be based
on RDBMS or ask for a multilingual interface
for better handling of information (EMR
Education Center, 2013).
DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS
1. Nursing Information Systems (NIS)
Nursing Information Systems (NIS) are
developed to enhance patient care by
providing nurses with accurate information to
assist them in performing their duties more
efficiently. An NIS carries out numerous
functions including the handling of personnel
schedules, accurate patient charting, and
better clinical data integration.
Agenda
packages
help
enhance
the
management of the workforce by helping
managers handle overtimes and absences.
They can also be used to obtain cost-effective
staffing and show staffing levels. Patient
charting applications allow better analysis of
critical signs. Nurses could check admission
information, and care plans along with
applicable nursing notes. Crucial information is
kept and can be retrieved when needed. This is
also useful in designing the patients’ care plan
since the medical information integration
function allows nurses to collect and examine
retrieved medical records.
2. Physician Information Systems (PIS)
Physician Information Systems are designed to
improve the practice of physicians. Electronic
Medical Records (EMRs) and Electronic Health
Records (EHRs) are some programs where
PIS is deployed and extensively used. Most
systems offer support 24/7 to facilitate easier
usage of the system by health care
professionals.
3. Radiology Information Systems
Radiology Information Systems are capable of
providing billing services and appointment
scheduling
aside from reporting and database
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storage. Technological advances have made
the practice of radiology more complicated
such that more and more hospitals turn to RIS
provide hospital stakeholders with relevant
information through reports for better decision
making.
The system also guarantees delivery of
information required by the health care
personnel because of the optimized core
library. It can also be customized to consider
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to address the commercial concerns of their
radiology departments.
4. Pharmacy Information Systems
Pharmacy Information Systems help monitor
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the utilization of medicines in health
institutions. The system also handles
information
on
medication-related
complications and drug allergies of patients. It
provides
information
to
identify
drug
interactions which helps in administering the
appropriate drugs by considering the
physiological conditions of the patient. (EMR
education center, 2013).
SELECTING A HOSPITAL INFORMATION
SYSTEM
The following are the aspects needed to be
considered in selecting an HIS (EMR
Education Center 2013) :
1. Total cost of package. HIS is available
for all sizes and budgets. For hospitals with
smaller budgets, providers may reduce
upfront and maintenance fees by using a
design that requires fewer servers and
hardwares.
2. Web-based system. The system is
available on the internet which means that
authorized personnel can access the
information anywhere and anytime. It also
allows data sharing between hospitals. A
hospital with updated patient history in its
system can facilitate access to information
from other health facilities upon request.
3. Implementation and support. During
the deployment or upgrade of the HIS, it is
imperative that the vendor provides ample
training and assistance to the users of the
system. Consider vendors that offer 24/7
support through telephone or web services.
(EMR Education Center, 2013).
HIS PROVIDERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
1. BIZBOX - BizBox, Inc. was founded twentyfive years ago. Its very first hospital project was
completed in 1994. The goal of the company is
to improve work efficiency in health care
institutions through software systems, and to
produce advanced solutions for better patient
care.
Aside from being a certified Microsoft Gold
Partner, they have also received the
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) of the Year
Award. They have fully integrated systems
such as Electronic Health Records (EHR) and
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Document Management System (DMS) that
will streamline tasks and help provide better
health services (BizBox, 2017).
for hospitals and MEDSCHO for schools
provide integrated, comprehensive, and proven
solutions for efficient health care practices.
3. COMLOGIK - Comlogik Business Systems,
Inc.
is
a
Philippine-based
software
development company that was established in
1999, with a vision to be a global technology
company. Comlogik led the way in developing
innovative applications like online hospital
services where patients can access their
billings and examination results, while the
administrators can access reports and the
doctors can access patients’ records anywhere
and anytime.
HIS FUNCTIONS
1. Help Desk. The help desk becomes more
efficient through the HIS because the manual
retrieval of information is no longer needed.
Clients can be provided information and
guidelines associated with a company’s or
institution’s products and services without any
hassle.
2. Scheduling. Managers and employees can
access work schedules from anywhere they
are and effectively discuss their scheduling
preferences through the HIS. An employee
scheduling software helps save time and
makes employee scheduling less difficult.
3. Patient registration. The HIS patient
registration form records the name, age,
gender, marital status, and other relevant
information regarding the patient. These pieces
of information are used for record keeping and
account management purposes. This form is
usually filled out during the patient’s visit or
consultation but if the patient is unable to
complete the form due to the need for prompt
medical attention, the form can be filled out by
a relative or guardian.
4. Admission. Before a patient is admitted to a
health facility, an admissions counselor will call
him or her to gather preliminary information,
offer vital information concerning the hospital
stay, and answer questions if there are any.
Additionally, the physician may also schedule
recurring medical exams, such as laboratory
tests or X-rays, before hospitalization. Other
routine tests can also be carried out on the day
of admission. All these can be done more
efficiently through the HIS.
5. Discharge. Through the HIS, instructions
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that accompany a patient’s discharge or
transfer are more efficiently provided. These
instructions may include discharge planning
2. KCCI MEDSYS - Kaiser-dela Cruz
Consulting, Inc.
specializes in application
development for hospitals, industrial clinics,
and medical-related educational institutions in
the Philippines. Their products Visual MEDSYS
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which details services needed to be
administered after the hospital stay to ensure
the full recovery of the patient.
6. Transfer. The term “transfer” means
movement (along with the discharge) of an
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