The purpose of establishing information standards in the healthcare industry is to facilitate data collection, maintenance, and transfer between different computer systems. The standards offer interoperability that enables effective communication and makes decision-making more accessible, and they also enhance the overall quality of patient care and maintain its consistency (Gordon & Catalini, 2018). Interoperability allows for the delivery of care that is consistent and without interruption across existing organizational boundaries.
Both the design of the electronic health record (EHR) and the computer-based oral health record (CB-OHR) should be governed by the content and structural standards that are presently being created (COHR). In addition, the healthcare information standards are meant to establish the content and logical structure of the EHR and then tie those elements to the documentation utilized by the healthcare system in the United States (Khajouei et al., 2018). The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has recently produced guidelines that provide a standard data model for electronic health records and highlight the components an EHR needs to include.
Shared care and interoperability between care settings are two significant benefits that health information standards are projected to provide to the healthcare system. Moreover, the provided set of quality standards has the potential to enhance service planning and administration (Khajouei et al., 2018). Regarding informatics applications, the codes will serve as a comprehensive manual for introducing EHR systems, as advocated for by the HITECH Act (The HIPAA Journal, n.d).
Consequently, when assessing how the code of ethics affects healthcare systems and applications, it is essential to remember that these rules govern the moral dimensions of medical practitioners’ work. The code of ethics is essential to making choices and acting professionally, even if people do not always refer to it (Noël et al., 2022). To keep their licenses current, healthcare providers must follow the rules and regulations put in place by their respective jurisdictions, which often include the code of ethics. Therefore, in the field of health care informatics, there is a codified set of ethics that governs the moral conduct expected of information professionals.
The Role of Both Internal and External Benchmarks
The term “internal benchmarking” refers to comparisons made within an organization, whereas “external benchmarking” refers to comparisons made between the subject company and organizations located outside of the subject company (Sharma et al., 2021). In the healthcare setting, when hospitals use internal benchmarking, they compare themselves to other units within the same hospital or other hospitals in the same health system (Sharma et al., 2021). A hospital can compare its performance to that of similar institutions or health systems through external benchmarking.
Importance of Federal Standards
It is necessary to have regulations to standardize and supervise the healthcare industry. This is done to ensure that healthcare organizations comply with public health information standards and offer safe care to all patients who come into contact with the healthcare system (Cavazos & Rutherford, 2012). In this regard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the most significant government institutions tasked with regulating the health system and ensuring the public’s health and safety is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC offers reliable information on the most significant diseases that now pose a risk to society in the United States and have the potential to substantially impair the nation’s overall health (Cavazos & Rutherford, 2012). Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a set of strategies to prevent illnesses and how these measures might be integrated into the operation of various healthcare units in the United States. In addition, the agency ensures public health, training, and other programs designed to improve people’s health in the United States.
Conclusively, to enhance the level of treatment across the board, healthcare organizations have collaborated to create healthcare information standards to facilitate communication across different healthcare systems and regulate how they operate in many respects. The effects of healthcare information standards and the code of ethics on health services and information applications have been examined.
References
Cavazos, D. E., & Rutherford, M. A. (2012). Bringing regulatory agencies into organizational studies: Broadening the lens used to examine the state. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492611418759
Gordon, W. J., & Catalini, C. (2018). Blockchain technology for healthcare: facilitating the transition to patient-driven interoperability. Computational and structural biotechnology journal, 16, 224-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2018.06.003
Khajouei, R., Gohari, S. H., & Mirzaee, M. (2018). Comparison of two heuristic evaluation methods for evaluating the usability of health information systems. Journal of biomedical informatics, 80, 37-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2018.02.016
Noël, R., Taramasco, C., & Márquez, G. (2022). Standards, Processes, and Tools Used to Evaluate the Quality of Health Information Systems: Systematic Literature Review. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(3), e26577. https://doi.org/10.2196%2F26577
Sharma, V., Caldas, C. H., & Mulva, S. P. (2021). Development of metrics and an external benchmarking program for healthcare facilities. International Journal of Construction Management, 21(6), 615-630. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2019.1573490
The HIPAA Journal. (n.d). What is the HITECH Act? The HIPAA Journal. Retrieved from: https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-is-the-hitech-act/
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