Nursing Informatics & Technology: A Blog for All Levels of Users

How Do You Use Smart Phones at Work?

2013-05-21T20:56:00Z

Smart phones are the norm and fully integrated in our society today. In fact, it has been estimated by Pew Internet , that 53% of adults have them. Many of the most popular applications on smart phones are related in some form to healthcare. The most frequently used healthcare applications pertain to dieting, exercise, stress/relaxation, chronic conditions and smoking cessation. It's not surprising to learn that 52% of smart phone users seek health information especially after a health crisis. As...(read more)

Nurses Must Prepare for Growing Role of HIT within Emerging Career Paths

2013-05-09T11:58:00Z

Nurses are moving down new career paths, each of which will demand knowledge and skill in the planning, implementation and use of health information technology (HIT). To understand HIT's indispensable role in healthcare transformation, nurses need only glance at the careers of professionals who began their climb toward the C-suite with an RN credential. Growing numbers of nurses now pursue the BSN, MSN and doctoral degrees required to land emerging career opportunities - from nurse practitioner,...(read more)

Clinical Business Intelligence – The Survival of Healthcare

2013-05-09T11:18:00Z

It is no secret that government incentives are the reason so many healthcare organizations and hospitals are embracing EMR technology to obtain the goals needed for meaningful use objectives. The real question is this: will good clinical business intelligence emerge from these systems once the incentives have stopped and the smoke clears? What is meant by good clinical business intelligence? The answer is found in what we as nurses accomplish each day. Lab results are returned and nurses review these...(read more)

HIMSS Celebrates National Nurses Week with Activities

2013-05-06T14:17:00Z

HIMSS celebrates National Nurses Week with the following activities: May 6-10: Read inspiring nursing stories on the HIMSS Blog Tuesday, May 7: Participate in a HIMSS LinkedIn discussion Thursday, May 9: The HIMSS Nursing Informatics Community will present the Nursing Informatics 101 webinar. Register for this complimentary event. Friday, May 10: An Introduction to the TIGER Virtual Learning Environment will presented by Sally Schlak, RN, MBA, Senior Director, The TIGER Initiative Foundation. Register...(read more)

How Technology Can Improve Hands-On Patient Care

2013-04-26T12:17:00Z

Even though we'd never turn our backs on the incredible technological and clinical breakthroughs we've experienced in healthcare, many professional caregivers lament that there's never enough time to provide the level of personal care patients truly require. Effective clinician and patient relationships include warmth, familiarity and a personal touch. These are important functions that allow a nurse to properly attend to the patient's health and recovery. The more time we spend by the patient's...(read more)

Predictive Analytics: Predicting Better Patient Outcomes

2013-04-18T13:56:00Z

I recently watched Moneyball (the movie that stared Brad Bitt as Oakland Athletics general manager, Billy Beane). In the movie, Beane utilized the assistance of a genius-minded statistician to make a wining baseball team with one of the skimpiest payrolls in the major leagues. Beane embraced sabermetrics, a type of predictive analysis, to identify promising players who were undervalued in the Major Leagues. Today, many healthcare organizations are in a similar spot as the Oakland Athletics were in...(read more)

Using Technology & Informatics to Expand Scope of Practice

2013-04-08T21:17:00Z

For years, organized medical groups have blocked efforts by advanced practice nurses (APNs) to expand their scope of practice. Even at the dawn of technology in hospitals transforming and expediting many processes, groups such as the American Medical Association believe that allowing nurse practitioners to care for patients, rather than primary care physicians, put patients' health at risk. Pointing to the dramatic gap in years of education, these physicians advocate physician-led teams. However,...(read more)

A Plan For Change: Successful Implementation of Healthcare IT Projects

2013-04-01T21:24:00Z

"Change is the only constant in life." ~ Heraclitus Your 700-bed acute care facility will be implementing an organization-wide electronic medical record (EMR) with a go-live scheduled for next year. Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) is being rolled out to the medical intensive care unit over the next three months. A critical access hospital is converting its financial and supply chain management systems from one vendor to another. Although many of the above change efforts have detailed budgets,...(read more)

Bridging the Gaps Between Technology and Education

2013-03-25T20:42:00Z

The alignment of education and technology is on hospital administrators' radar screens nationally, especially with today's new health reforms and community health initiatives. There's enormous potential for innovative solutions that can help deliver customized patient care and improve outcomes and patient satisfaction. This merger of technology and hands-on care has always appealed to clinicians, but significant gaps existed between the vision of what could be and reality. Anyone working in healthcare...(read more)

The Role of Informatics in Patient Engagement

2013-03-18T13:07:00Z

Right now there is a concentrated focus on patient engagement as part of Meaningful Use Stages 2 & 3, and many new models of care have developed as a result. These new models emphasize the need for patient satisfaction and patient engagement. Examples of these models include: Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) Patient engagement is particularly compelling with wide-ranging implications. How can we encourage patients...(read more)

Nursing Education and the Role of Technology & Informatics

2013-03-11T13:03:00Z

The Future of Nursing: Focus on Education , a 2011 policy brief from the Institute of Medicine, outlines the need for more highly educated nurses, a reformed education system, lifelong learning and the production of "enough nurses with the right skills." The conclusion: "If new nurses are to succeed in this complex and evolving health care system, nursing education needs to be transformed." More specifically, the report offers these recommendations: Produce more nurses educated at the BSN level Allow...(read more)

Informatics Super Users & Champions: Key to Successful Implementations

2013-03-05T12:19:00Z

Are you thinking of starting a new program or attempting to resurrect a disbanded group from a previous project? One of the keys to a successful clinical system implementation (or conversion) will be your super users. Historically a super user was an end user that possessed an interest in participating in the project; an experienced staff member who retained their normal role (RN, unit clerk, respiratory therapist, etc.) in addition to the role of super user. Super users were looked to as the go-to...(read more)

Future Growth in the Nursing Job Market: Thanks, Watson

2013-02-26T20:12:00Z

First he won on Jeopardy, now he's diagnosing patients. Watson, the IMB supercomputer has been programmed to assess information presented by patients, caregivers and technology and to come back - very quickly (processing up to 60 million pages of text per second) - with a diagnosis and treatment recommendation. The computer is not just full of statistics and facts. It actually listens and learns, just like it did on Jeopardy. Jonathan Cohn wrote about the advancement in the March 2013 cover story...(read more)

Share Your Nursing Informatics Story

2012-06-25T22:52:00Z

HIMSS, in collaboration with the American Nurses Association and the 29 members of the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, http://www.allianceni.org/members.asp are seeking your story! About: We are collecting personal stories that demonstrate the impact of nursing and informatics. The stories should be personal experiences that illustrate how: nurses and nursing informatics are advancing better care, affordable care and healthier communities! Our goal is to collect 50 vignettes and have 50 individuals...(read more)

Growth Opportunity in Informatics: Fellowship in Innovation Leadership

2012-05-18T11:35:00Z

The first 15-month Fellowship in Innovation Leadership for executive healthcare leaders will begin September 2012. The program is designed to prepare the most innovative leaders to positively impact the future of healthcare. The Fellowship is: Focused on building innovation as a process and a capability, both personally and organizationally; A phased approach to innovation that allows Fellows to reflect and learn (in immersion sessions and webinars) and to accelerate realization of results through...(read more)