The chapter we read this week is entitled, "The Role of Health Information Technology in Quality Improvement: From Data to Decision"

I have to hand it to those who are able to collect data from the hospital setting and display it in charts and graphs so that the information can be analyzed and areas of concern can be addressed. That is a hefty task. I expected to learn how this was done before beginning this unit and I feel that I have received a fairly sufficient overview. 

                                 

I learned that this system of data collection and decision making has it share of faults. It is dependent upon the human element for data collection. Some areas of concern are timeliness of reporting, bias interference, accessibility to data, differences in terminology or classification, finding relevant data and agreed upon interpret ability. There are also many forms of statistical analysis such as sampling or analytical approaches including classical statistics, event analysis, and data mining. Then there are different ways the information is shared and applied. 

                                                              

As I read through the chapter I thought about my anatomy class. They stressed and over stressed the importance of using the proper nomenclature in anatomy ensure that everyone, nation and worldwide, is using the same terminology. Then, you get out into the field and start applying all you learn and people use whatever terminology they want to use. So, it would be great if all companies would use the same system and report their data the same way, but in the 'real world' of things, that is not happening. That seems to be the biggest problem with streamlining data collection and analyzing that information for application in quality and safety.

                             

We are changing our computer system at work at the end of next month and I am hoping this will bring our hospital one step closer to a streamlined system of reporting. The system we use now is years and years old. For my nursing practice, I will do my best to utilize our computer charting system with the most accurate data I can give it. That is probably the best I can do to apply what I have learned this week to my career.