11 - TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE

Question 1

the study or use of systems (especially computers and telecommunications) for storing, retrieving, and sending information

Answer 1

Information Technology

Question 2

an area of information technology involving the design, development, creation, use, and maintenance of information systems for the healthcare industry

Answer 2

Health Information Technology

Question 3

• Fundamental component of health information technology
• Refers to the patient’s official health record in digital for
• Easily shared across different healthcare providers and agencies

Answer 3

Electronic Health Record

Question 4

Benefits of EHR

Answer 4

Benefits of EHR
1. More efficient information sharing between clinical staff
2. Decreased documentation time of staff, thus allotting more time for direct patient care
3. Reduced documentation errors and subsequent adverse events
4. Real-time checking
5. Integration of clinical data with computerized physician order entry, electronic prescribing, and decision support features

Question 5

Challenges of EHR

Answer 5

Challenges of EHR
1. Limited opportunity for face-to-face communication
2. Fragmentation of data
3. Data overload
4. Limited access
5. Lack of knowledge and efficiency

Question 6

• Systematically structured and gathered “storehouse” of patient-specific data, which is usually mirrored from a clinical application, or supplemented with data from other systems
• Regarded as an important tool for decision making or various stakeholders in healthcare
• Also known as clinical data warehouse

Answer 6

Clinical Data Repository

Question 7

Types of Clinical Data Repositories

Answer 7

1. EHR
2. Study
3. Registry
4. Warehouse
5. Collection
6. Federation

Question 8

A database of observations made as a result of direct health care

Answer 8

Electronic Health Record

Question 9

A database that collects observations for a specific clinical research study

Answer 9

Study

Question 10

Observations collected and organized for the purpose of studying or guiding particular outcomes on a defined population. Associated studies are either multiple or long-term and evolving over time

Answer 10

Registry

Question 11

A repository that adds levels of integration and quality to the primary (research or clinical) data of a single institution, to support flexible queries for multiple uses. It’s broader in application than a registry.

Answer 11

Warehouse

Question 12

A library of heterogeneous data sets from more organizations than a warehouse or more sources than a registry. Organized to help users find a particular data set, but not to query for data combined across data sets

Answer 12

Collection

Question 13

A repository distributed across multiple location, where each location retains control over access to its own data, and is responsible for making the data comparable with the data or other locations

Answer 13

Federation

Question 14

Functions of CDR

Answer 14

1. Transfers
2. Consolidates
3. Analyzes
4. Queries
5. Presents clinical information

Question 15

Benefits of CDR

Answer 15

1. Basis for reporting, studying, planning, and supporting clinical research
2. Simplified data processing and analysis
3. Improved clinical decision-making

Question 16

Challenges of CDR

Answer 16

1. Difficult set-up/programming
2. Privacy issues

Question 17

Defined as the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the internet (the cloud) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale

Answer 17

Cloud Computing

Question 18

Models of Cloud Computing

Answer 18

1. According to Service (Service Models)
2. According to Deployment (Deployment Models)

Question 19

According to Service (Service Models)

Answer 19

1. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
2. Platform as a service (PaaS)
3. Software as a service (SaaS)

Question 20

• It provides us with virtualization, storage, and processing
• Mainly used for file backup and temporary processing campaigns, product design
• E.g. Amazon web services (AWS), AT&T, Open Source

Answer 20

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Question 21

• It provides us with a virtual development environment
• A user can develop and deploy applications for the cloud
• E.g. Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine, salesforce.com

Answer 21

Platform as a service (PaaS)

Question 22

• It provides access to service providers’ application that run on the cloud
• E.g. Gmail, Google Docs, Drop Box, Facebook, Evernote

Answer 22

Software as a service (SaaS)

Question 23

According to Deployment (Deployment Models)

Answer 23

1. Private cloud
2. Public cloud
3. Hybrid cloud
4. Community cloud

Question 24

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Answer 24

1. Reduction in healthcare expenses through reduced IT infrastructure and maintenance
2. Increased access and flexibility of data regardless of differences in systems/platforms
3. Reduced carbon emissions due compared to traditional ICT systems = better environmental impact

Question 25

Challenges of Cloud Computing

Answer 25

1. Lack of reliable service cloud providers
2. Security and privacy issues
3. Legal issues on property and privacy