The Role of Information Management in the Successful Implementation of Clinical Governance

The Role of Information Management in the Successful Implementation of Clinical Governance Mosadeghrad Ali Mohammad1, Sadoughi Farahnaz2, Ghorbani Moloud3 * 1. Assistant Professor, Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2. Professor, Department of Health Information Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3. MSc, Department of Health Information Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. *Correspondence: Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Tel: 021-42933006 Email: [email protected] Abstract: Introduction: The ability of managers to use accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information is an important factor for organizational success. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of information management in the successful implementation of clinical governance in the hospitals of Khuzestan province, Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 40 hospitals of Khuzestan province in 2014, using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire included 35 questions about 7 dimensions of clinical governance. All clinical governance managers of the hospitals were asked to complete the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (such as correlation coefficient and logistic regression) by SPSS 19. Results: The mean success rate of clinical governance in the hospitals of Khuzestan was 65.6 percent. The mean score of information management of clinical governance was 62.4 percent. There was statistically significant relationship between information management and successful implementation of clinical governance (P=0.01). Appropriate use of health technology and information systems by the staff, staff training in data documentation, and using hospital information in decision-making process, planning, control, and evaluation had great effect on the successful implementation of clinical governance. Conclusion: Due to the important role of accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information and information management system in the successful implementation of clinical governance, hospital managers should provide necessary facilities for collection, analysis, and use of hospital information. Hospital staff should be trained in data documentation. Key¬words: Clinical Governance, Information Management, Hospital, Quality Management Citation: Mosadeghrad AM, Sadoughi F, Ghorbani M. The Role of Information Management in the Successful Implementation of Clinical Governance. Journal of Health Based Research 2016; 2(3): 207-221

A survey of clinical governance success in Khozestan province

Background and Aims: Clinical Governance (CG) is a strategy for providing responsive, accountable, patient-centered, high quality, safe and effective healthcare services through creating an appropriate organizational structure and culture. Development, implementation and monitoring clinical standards are also included in CG. This study aimed to assess the success of clinical governance implementation in hospitals in Khuzestan province, Iran.Materials and Methods: This descriptive questionnaire survey was conducted in 2014 in 40 hospitals using a valid and reliable questionnaire covering seven dimensions of CG (i.e., management and leadership, employees’ education and management, clinical effectiveness, clinical audit, risk management, patient involvement, and information management). All clinical governance officers of hospitals were asked to complete the questionnaires. Overall, 40 questionnaires were returned. Data analysis was done using SPSS software.  Ethical issues such as informed consent, voluntary participation, participants’ anonymity, information confidentiality and researchers’ objectivity in data collection, analysis and reporting were all considered.Results: The mean score of CG implementation success was 65.6 percent in Khuzestan province hospitals. About half of the hospitals were moderately successful in CG implementation. Hospitals achieved more success in employees’ education and management and less success in clinical effectiveness dimensions of clinical governance. Top managers’ and employees’ commitment and involvement in CG activities was critical for CG successful implementation.Conclusion: Clinical governance was slightly successful in Khuzestan hospitals. However, strong management and leadership, managers’, employees’ and physicians’ participation, education and training, patient centeredness, evidence based practice, and clinical audits are necessary for successful implementation of CG in hospitals.Keywords: Clinical governance, Hospital, Successful change, Quality managemen

ASSESSMENT OF THE USERS' PERSPECTIVES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRONIC PATIENT'S DRUG CHART IN THE PHARMACY INFORMATION SYSTEM

Introduction: The targeted application of the technology for the record of the drug information may substantially assist the healthcare service providers supporting the drug-related decisions. This study intended to assess the performance of the electronic patient's drug chart integrated in the pharmacy information system PIS] by comparing the users' viewpoints before and after its administration. Methods: This study was conducted using applied and descriptive-analytical research method in 2016. Research population consisted of the nursing staff, pharmacy technicians as well as pharmacists from which a sample of 317 subjects was selected using purposive non-probability sampling method from Nour & Ali Asqar hospital of Isfahan city. Data collection tool was a self-designed questionnaire developed on the basis of American Society of Health System Pharmacists ASHP] the validity of which was confirmed by both pooling the ideas of the respective well-known professors and estimating cronbach's alpha that was found to be 82%. The study was conducted in the following three steps: 1] exploring the viewpoints of the users on the development of the electronic patient's drug chart, 2] converting the current drug chart to the electronic format 3] re-assessing the users' viewpoints on the performance of electronic patient's drug chart. The collected data were analyzed using pretest-posttest and paired sample ttest with Spss16 software. As for quantitative variables, the measures of mean score, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval were used. Results: As per the obtained results, there was a significant difference between the mean scores obtained for the viewpoints of the users on four domains in question including the rate of access to the patient drug's information p < 0.001], the patient's demographic information p< 0.005], the patient's complaints and signs information p< 0.001] and patient's medical information p< 0.001] before and after the implementation of electronic patient's drug chart. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that implementation of electronic patient's drug chart in the PIS would increase the users' access rate to the drug and medical information. This, in turn, has a positive effect on lowering the illegible handwriting errors, controlling the drug dosage administered and decreasing the medicine waste

Information Security from a Scientometric Perspective

During recent years, Information societies are continually confronted with security threats and information vulnerabilities. Literature analysis of major disciplines is one of the key tools available to policymakers of research institutions and organizations. Scientometrics is the field of study which concerns itself with measuring and analyzing scientific literature. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the research trends of information security in the Middle-East and the world from a scientometric perspective. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used in this study. The Scopus citation database was used to collect the publication data, as the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, all documents related to "information security" were retrieved and analyzed. The results showed that the majority of scientific publications in the field of information security were produced in the United States of America and China. Among the Middle-Eastern countries, Iran ranked the first in terms of scientific publications in the field of information security while ranked 23th among the countries of the world. It is apparent that paying special attention to the field of information and data security in terms of international scientific collaborations, using knowledge and experiences of the leading, and supporting research and development in this field can improve the quality and quantity of scientific publications in this field. The expertise gathered during the process will prove invaluable and effective in confronting the security threats and vulnerabilities posed to information societies

Progresses and challenges in the traditional medicine information system: A systematic review

Context: Traditional medicine information system (TMIS) is a substructure founded on the targeted application of technology. It also serves as a tool supporting the decisions in traditional medicine (TM). However, due to following a different approach in the treatment process, the TM has faced some challenges. Aims: To review the universal progresses and challenges in TMIS. Methods: This study was conducted using systematic search and review. The resources were retrieved through searching the key words related to the TMIS in the available databases including Science Direct, WOS, ProQuest, PubMed and IEEE. The findings were classified in to two distinct categories of progresses and challenges relating to the TMIS. Results: As many as 28 studies conducted from 2000 to 2017 were included in this research. The majority of the studies were related to 2010 or after 2010 conducted in China. Progresses identified in this TMIS were categorized into four types including the development of the database, universal standardization of the TM, development of the clinical data warehouse, and application of information technology in the TM. The challenges were classified into four distinct categories, namely the lack of treatment protocols in TM, the necessity of developing a universal unified terminology, the necessity of creating a medical ontologies and the necessity of ensuring the data quality. Conclusions: Information technology forms a significant aspect of the TM modernization. To develop both the TMIS and the knowledge sharing tools, it is necessary to remove the problems and challenges involved in the data record process in the TM. Keywords Author Keywords:challenges; herbal medicine; information systems; opportunity; traditional medicine KeyWords Plus:WESTERN HERBAL MEDICINE; CHINESE MEDICINE; KNOWLEDGE; MECHANISM; PRODUCTS; DATABASE; STAT

The role of herbal medicines in health care quality and the related challenges

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the use of herbal medicines. Quality control and safety are two critical principles to be considered in the production process of herbal medicines. This review study aimed to investigate the condition of the countries other than Iran in terms of observing the safety principles, quality control, and meeting the standard of herbal drug use. In this systematic review, references were selected using the search terms "health-care quality" and "challenges of herbal medicine usage" from the databases "Web of Science" and "PubMed" published between 2000 and 2019. To select the resources among the selected literature, confirmation was accomplished by two researchers and Cohen�s kappa coefficient (κ). The selected papers were classified based on publication year, journal, country, reference standards, regulation, toxicity evaluation, quality control, efficacy, safety, and adverse effects in herbal medicine. From 1532 retrieved papers, 27 papers with an estimated Cohen�s kappa coefficient of 0.81 were confirmed and included in the study. Based on the analysis, the main findings of the papers were thematically classified into seven subcategories as follows: reference standards in herbal medicine, regulation of herbal medicinal products, toxicity evaluation for herbal products, quality control of herbal medicine, efficacy, adverse effects of herbal medicine, and safety. Given the significance of the effects of herbal medicines on health care quality, it is essential to codify guidelines on the proper use of these drugs

Information Security from a Scientometric Perspective

During recent years, Information societies are continually confronted with security threats and information vulnerabilities. Literature analysis of major disciplines is one of the key tools available to policymakers of research institutions and organizations. Scientometrics is the field of study which concerns itself with measuring and analyzing scientific literature. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the research trends of information security in the Middle-East and the world from a scientometric perspective. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used in this study. The Scopus citation database was used to collect the publication data, as the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, all documents related to "information security" were retrieved and analyzed. The results showed that the majority of scientific publications in the field of information security were produced in the United States of America and China. Among the Middle-Eastern countries, Iran ranked the first in terms of scientific publications in the field of information security while ranked 23th among the countries of the world. It is apparent that paying special attention to the field of information and data security in terms of international scientific collaborations, using knowledge and experiences of the leading, and supporting research and development in this field can improve the quality and quantity of scientific publications in this field. The expertise gathered during the process will prove invaluable and effective in confronting the security threats and vulnerabilities posed to information societies

The Current State of IT Governance in Education and Training Centers in Iran University of Medical Sciences: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: IT Governance includes IT management and the way to make IT decisions in line with the related IT processes, resources, and responsibilities. This study aimed to determine the current state of IT governance in education and training centers in Iran University of Medical Sciences. Method: This is a practical qualitative study. In the first step of the study the population centers including the related documentation, and in the second step the units responsible for information technology, computing, informatics and hospital administrators who work in the center were included. Data collection tools in the first step was the data collection forms, and in the second step was interview guide. Content analysis of the documents and all the propositions were extracted. The final step is data processing and interpretations of the results. After interviews were collected, the data were identified, coded and classified. Finally, the sub-topics were combined, the topics were selected, and the thematic analysis was performed. Results: 40% of centers' information technology administrators studied computer software at university and 40% of the managers were graduated from medical centers. The results showed that the president, the director, the IT department administrators, and the director of the Department of Statistics and Information Technology in many areas have made their decision in technology-related fields . In some centers also the IT department administrator provided the staff with job description after being approved by the hospital manager. Conclusion: The structure of the studied centers' IT departments was vague and complex, so that the trustees, policy makers, administrators and IT operators in hospitals were not exactly clear. Keywords: Information Technology Governance, Information Technology, Information Technology Governance Domain

How to Evaluate Health Information Systems: Evaluation stages

The most important goal of health systems is improvement of quality, effectiveness and efficiency of health services. To achieve this goal, health care organizations should establish a proper structure for evaluating health information systems. Health information system evaluation is expected to identify the existing problems of the system through measuring specific indicators. The main objective of planning health information system evaluation is to ensure availability of useful and utilizable data for measuring essential health indicators. Many researches have been done on health information systems evaluation indicators and stages. The current study overviews the previous studies and describes the suggested approach of World Health Organization to health information system evaluation which has been used in several countries. This program provides a comprehensive framework of health information systems evaluation. It is evident that determining the stages of the assessment program and its basic indicators will increase the effectiveness of health information system and subsequently improve health care

A Review on the Evaluation Methods of Health Information Systems

Evaluation of health information systems is an effective approach to ensure the efficacy of the system which can lead to the improvement in quality of health care services. The main aims of evaluation are to identify the strength and efficiency of system in health care delivery, to identify the weaknesses of the system, and to suggest general recommendations for improving the performance of the system. Evaluation could be performed through various methods. Some experts believe in three general methods including goal-based evaluation, goal-free evaluation and criteria-based evaluation. While some others consider two main methods for evaluation which are objective or quantitative and subjective or qualitative methods. Formative and summative methods are other classification of evaluation methods regarded by a number of researchers. This review represents various evaluation methods in health information systems and introduces the objectives and components to be evaluated in such systems