RT Book, Section
A1 Maviglia, Saverio M.
A2 McKean, Sylvia C.
A2 Ross, John J.
A2 Dressler, Daniel D.
A2 Scheurer, Danielle B.
SR Print(0)
ID 1137606228
T1 The Role of Information Technology in Hospital Quality and Safety
T2 Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine, 2e
YR 2017
FD 2017
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071843133
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1137606228
RD 2024/04/16
AB The  practice  of  medicine  is  at  heart  an  exercise  of  collecting,  filtering,  summarizing,  managing,  analyzing,  and  acting  upon  information.  This  information  comes  directly  from  the  patient’s  narrative  history,  but  also  from  family  and  caretakers,  and  other  providers.  It  is  also  derived  from  diagnostic  interventions,  including  the  physical  examination,  laboratory  tests,  radiologic  exams,  and  procedures.  Combined  with  reference  knowledge  about  physiology,  pathology,  pharmacology,  and  other  basic  science  disciplines,  the  physician  makes  an  expert  assessment  of  the  patient’s  conditions  and  risks,  and  then  recommends  an  action  plan.  Information  about  this  plan  must  be  communicated  and  coordinated  with  a  larger  team  and  with  the  patient  and  their  family,  executed,  and  then  information  about  how  the  patient  responds  fed  back,  in  order  to  make  adjustments  over  time.  If  this  flow  of  information  is  compromised  or  hampered  at  any  point  in  this  cycle,  then  the  potential  for  quality  and  safety  problems  emerges.  Given  this  intense  information-rich  environment  that  the  clinician  must  navigate,  especially  in  the  inpatient  setting,  it  is  clear  that  the  judicious  application  of  information  technology  (IT)  can  greatly  empower  the  hospitalist  in  providing  high  quality  and  safe  patient  care;  and  conversely,  that  injudicious  application  of  IT  can  promote  errors  and  adverse  outcomes.