Updated on Aug 22, 2023, with contributions from Nicholas Patterson.
Have you ever noticed that when you visit your physician’s office, you’re asked to review your past and current health status? You were likely given a form to verify your past medical history and a list of current medications. Do you ever wonder why you have to review this form every time you go to the doctor?
Continue reading to find out why.
An Example of Information Management in Healthcare
Meet Sara, a young mother of three children. It’s late at night when Sara’s two-year-old son Ben wakes up with shortness of breath. Because of Ben’s history of premature birth and subsequent breathing difficulties, Sara rushes Ben to the hospital.
When signing in at the emergency room, Sara is asked a series of questions about Ben’s past health concerns. Exhausted and distraught, Sara can’t remember important details of her son’s previous conditions. She remembers that Ben was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for three weeks but can’t recall the details of his illnesses and treatments during the hospitalization.
The nurse reassures Sara that everything is going to be alright and that she can retrieve Ben’s health information from the electronic health record (EHR). As the nurse is reviewing Ben’s chart in the EHR, she notices an alert indicating that Ben has an allergy to Augmentin. This critical information is essential in treating Ben’s current illness. If it had not been documented correctly, Ben’s health safety could have been compromised during this emergency room visit.
How Health Information Management (HIM) Can Help
Having accurate health information documented is critical to patient safety, and this is where health information management (HIM) professionals can help:
- HIM professionals work to ensure health information is documented accurately, timely and securely.
- HIM professionals work