Information Systems in Healthcare

Description and purpose of PHR The creation of PHR can take different approaches either using commercial applications that could be either web-based or standalone applications. A simply configured PHR system is stand-alone which does not communicate with any other system on the outside. The individual can access their health records stored in such a system alone and does not have the option of communicating or sharing such information through other platforms. Another system approach to PHR is the electronic health records (EHR)-based PHR systems where functionality is created in the PHR to allow communication with the EHR system (Hawthorne & Richards, 2017). In such a system, the individual can access their health records both in the PHR and the EHR. Impact on health care PHR has a positive impact on the provision of healthcare and nursing care to the patients, the system enables patients with chronic diseases to track their care in close communication with their caregiver.

Nursing-patient relationship and communication is enhanced using PHR for chronic disease tracking (Roehrs, da Costa, Righi & de Oliveira, 2017). The patient may measure her vital signs at home and upload on the PHR which is linked to the health care provider who can see and monitor their progress. Essentially such capabilities reduce the costs of care provision, allows the patient to access both medical and nursing care from home without having to make regular trips to the hospital. Nurses can also analyze and plan for patient care interventions such as home visits, health education using information updated in the patient health records. The American Nurses Association requires for nurses and other healthcare provider to work in collaboration to implement legislation, policies and the standards that exist which promote patient safety and confidentiality of patients.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 provides the legal basis for the protection of patient privacy and confidentiality as well as data integrity (HHS. gov, n. d). As a follow-up to the enactment of the HIPAA Act, the privacy rule was developed which guides in the use and disclosure of private patient information to ensure that the use and sharing of patient information was done in a way to ensure the privacy of the patient is catered for. However, the security of individual health information is not guaranteed with research proving that organizations have failed in many instances to meet the security regulations that are a requirement for data security (Carrión Señor, Fernández-Alemán & Toval, 2012).

Value of best evidence in practice Evidence-based practice is the core in nursing practice and provides nurses with researched interventions that have been proven to work on improving patient outcomes. The advancement in nursing education as per The Institute of Medicine report has enhanced the ability of nurses to participate not only in research but also to critique research and identify its suitability for use in practice. Evidence-based practice provides a standard inpatient intervention that can be individualized for each patient to achieve similar patient outcomes. Evidence-based practice in nursing care enhances the development of nursing care, its uptake of new information, knowledge and incorporation of essential technological advancements in care (Black, Balneaves, Garossino, Puyat & Qian, 2015) The implementation of evidence-based practice to define the best practices ensures a dynamic practice environment that utilizes research-supported interventions into practice.