A hospital information system (HIS) is an element of
health informatics
Health informatics combines communications, information technology (IT), and health care to enhance patient care and is at the forefront of the medical technological revolution. It can be viewed as a branch of engineering and applied science. ...
that focuses mainly on the administrational needs of
hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
s. In many implementations, a HIS is a comprehensive, integrated
information system
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, Information Processing and Management, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, info ...
designed to manage all the aspects of a hospital's operation, such as medical, administrative, financial, and legal issues and the corresponding processing of services. Hospital information system is also known as hospital management software or hospital management system (HMS). More generally an HIS is a form of medical information system (MIS).
Hospital information systems provide a common source of information about a patient's health history, and doctors schedule timing. The system has to keep data in a secure place and controls who can reach the data in certain circumstances. These systems enhance the ability of health care professionals to coordinate care by providing a patient's health information and visit history at the place and time that it is needed. Patient's laboratory test information also includes visual results such as
X-ray
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
, which may be reachable by professionals. HIS provide internal and external communication among health care providers. Portable devices such as
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s and
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s may be used at the bedside.
Hospital information systems are often composed of one or several
software component
A software component is a modular unit of software that encapsulates specific functionality. The desired characteristics of a component are reusability and maintainability.
Value
Components allow software development to assemble software ...
s with specialty-specific extensions, as well as of a large variety of sub-systems in medical specialties from a multi-vendor market. Specialized implementations name for example
laboratory information system
A laboratory information management system (LIMS), sometimes referred to as a laboratory information system (LIS) or laboratory management system (LMS), is a software-based solution with features that support a modern laboratory's operations. K ...
(LIS), Policy and Procedure Management System,
radiology information system
A radiological information system (RIS)
is the core system for the electronic management of medical imaging departments. The major functions of the RIS can include patient scheduling, resource management, examination performance tracking, reportin ...
(RIS) or
picture archiving and communication system (PACS).
Potential benefits of hospital information systems include:
*Efficient and accurate administration of finance, diet of patient, engineering, and distribution of medical aid. It helps to view a broad picture of hospital growth
*Improved monitoring of drug usage, and study of effectiveness. This leads to the reduction of adverse drug interactions while promoting more appropriate pharmaceutical utilization.
*Enhances information integrity, reduces transcription errors, and reduces duplication of information entries.
See also
*
Clinical documentation improvement
*
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
*
*
DICOM
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a technical standard for the digital storage and Medical image sharing, transmission of medical images and related information. It includes a file format definition, which specifies the str ...
*
Electronic health record
An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of electronically stored patient and population health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared thro ...
(EHR)
*
European Institute for Health Records
The European Institute for Health Records or EuroRec Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 as part of the ProRec initiative. On 13 May 2003, the institute was established as a non-profit organization under French law. Current Pre ...
(EuroRec)
*
Health information management
Health information management (HIM) is information management applied to health and health care. It is the practice of analyzing and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. With the widespr ...
*
Health information technology
Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the secure exchange of health informati ...
*
Import and export of data (medical data export and sharing between hospitals)
*
List of open source healthcare software
*
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to revea ...
*
Medical record
The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and health care, care across time within one particular health care provide ...
*
Personal health record
A personal health record (PHR) is a health record where health data and other information related to the care of a patient is maintained by the patient. This stands in contrast to the more widely used electronic medical record (EMR), which is oper ...
*
Patient tracking system
*
Solid health
Solid (abbreviation from ''Social Linked Data'') is a web decentralization project led by Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor o ...
Investigating Decentralized Management of Health and Fitness Data
/ref>
References
{{Authority control
*
Nursing informatics
Management cybernetics
Information systems