GIS and Disease MonitoringElectronic Health Records (EHR) and Practice Management System (PMS) integrations are complex from a technical and business logic layer perspective. Additional systems, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Radiological Information Systems (RIS), and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) can add tremendous value but even greater complexity.
A GIS is a computer-based system for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data. The geovisualization of data is an important component of health care IT analytical processes especially as they apply to disease management and surveillance.
A Radiology Information System (RIS) is responsible for managing and distributing patient radiological data and imagery. An RIS also possesses patient scheduling, report generation, billing, and image tracking capabilities. Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) enable digital storage of radiology images and remote access.
These systems can be used to help monitor and manage disease outbreaks, and they can also be used to discern patterns from health data. In this Discussion, you will look at how these systems can monitor health issues related to child abuse.
To prepare for this discussion, read the following from your course text Health Information: Management of a Strategic Resource:
• Chapter 6, “Electronic Health Record Systems”
Research the Internet for information about EHRs, PMS, GIS, RIS, and PACS. The following Web sites may be helpful:
• What is GIS?
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• U.S. Department of the Interior – U.S. Geographic Survey
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Unfortunately, child abuse is a problem in many countries, and within the United States it is on the rise. It is estimated that more than 4 million cases of child abuse occur each year and many victims are younger than 5 years of age. Common radiological signs of abuse include long bone, rib, and skull fractures, subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage (blood clots on brain), cerebral edema (brain swelling), and abdominal injury (especially to duodenum and pancreas).
• How might a GIS-enhanced RIS platform provide child abuse social service caseworkers with information of value to their work?
• What value might a GIS-enhanced application provide to a RIS platform?
• What value would be derived from finding clusters of child-related fractures within a given narrow geography due to a GIS-enhanced RIS application?
• In what other ways is a GIS-enhanced application valuable within the framework of disease monitoring and management?
• What IT considerations are there with the integration of GIS, RIS, and PACS?
• Resources Overview
During Week 2, you will use a variety of resources, both required and supplemental, including selections from the course text, Web resources and a video. The Weekly Schedule (a navigation link under Week 2) outlines the resources you will need to participate in the Discussion and complete the Application and the Group Project.
This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources. To access select media resources, please use the media players below.
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Media
Video: Week 2 Overview
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 20 minutes.
This video provides an introduction to the week’s resources and assignments.
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Reading
Course Text: Abdelhak, M., & Hanken, M. A. (2016). Health information: Management of a strategic resource (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
• Chapter 6, “Electronic Health Record Systems”
This chapter explores Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Personal Health Records (PHRs) and the issues and barriers that affect their planning and implementation. Read about standards and interoperability and what the future likely holds for data management to support the Application and Group Project this week.
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Web Resource
What is GIS?
Access the GIS information page from the CDC and explore the topical links to help you prepare for the Discussion.
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Web Resource
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Homepage
This is the Web site for the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), which is a professional membership society of medical imaging professionals, including radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and allied scientists.
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Web Resource
RSNA DICOM Primer
This article describes the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard, which has become the predominant standard for the communication of medical images. Use the information found here to support the Group Project.
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Web Resource
Medisoft PMS Demo
This is an online demonstration of commercial Practice Management System (PMS) software. The demo indicates that the software helps clinic staff streamline workflow, speed reimbursement, and reduce denials.
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Web Resource
U.S. Department of the Interior – U.S. Geographic Survey
This is the Web site for the USGS mapping sciences page and contains links to pages describing USGS cartographic and geographic products and programs. Use this site to build your knowledge of the mapping sciences. Explore the Education Materials and Fact Sheets on the type of geographic data collected.
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Media
Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (2009). Healthcare IT middleware and integrated applications [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 3 minutes.
In this video, Dr. Vincent Grasso demonstrates the physical setting associated with each type of health care IS application such as billing, radiology, and the ER. Dr. Grasso discusses the interface between the systems and the activities that take place in each setting.
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