Informatics

Healthcare delivery systems in the modern setting require intensive communication between health care providers and patients. Multiple health care practitioners work together to find evidence-based solutions to medical problems. For example, during admission, a patient interacts with hospital employees, including nurses, physicians, technicians, and pharmacists, among other professionals. The process involves collection and sharing of information between the various health care workers and the patient (Friedberg et al., 2014). It is critical to ensure that the correct patient data is recorded and interpreted to support the care process. Besides, health care providers should communicate accurate information to all members of the interdisciplinary team and the patient to support the effective coordination of services. The patient will be at risk if professionals fail to communicate effectively because wrong information, including medication errors, can endanger the life of a patient.

A typical case of communication can be between members of the interdisciplinary team and the patient during the hospitalization period. A patient visits a health care complaining of severe headache. The nurse collects vital records, including weight and blood pressure. Besides communicating the information to the patient, the nurse records the information together with other personal data in a networked computer system. The information is available to any other physician or practitioner who will come into contact with the patient throughout the continuum of care. The patient is scheduled for some tests, including a CT scan, which builds the information on the system. The results are recorded by the lab technician and are accessible to the primary physician attending to the patient. Technology supports the communication process because the physician interprets the results to patients in a way they can understand.