PDF When Texoma Medical Center was designing its new facility, the data center and its surrounding infrastructure were seen to be as critical to the workings of the hospital as any other department. Gone are the days of green screens and portable PCs that looked like Singer sewing machines. Information technology is moving at the speed of light and no where is it changing faster than in the healthcare industry. Information technology in healthcare is as critical to the emergency department as it is to the accounting department.
To that end, TMC has a new state-of-the art data center that houses 150 servers, a high-end PC that houses applications and databases. All new PCs and a new phone system were also installed in the facility, along with a new Cardiology PACS system, a Picture Archiving and Communication System allows a digital image of an organ or bone to be displayed on a PC for viewing by a physician. We also added sleep studies/epilepsy monitoring system and asset tracking software. It takes highly trained staff to manage and support everything from a printer to a clinical system that takes digital pictures of a patient’s heart. Just as in any other hospital department critical to patient care, information systems are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. We have network administrators, PC and telecommunications technicians. Clinical staffs are becoming an integral part of any hospital’s information systems department as more and more systems are designed to improve patient care and safety. We have three nurses and a former lab director who now work as systems analysts with the clinical staff to design, implement and support clinical systems.di
The information systems department is also key in protecting patient data. The US Department of Health and Human Services is the agency that monitors the handling of this highly confidential data. The laws are becoming ever stricter concerning who can access protected health information. TMC’s chief information security officer monitors computer access to insure that our staff has access only to the data needed to care for the patient. Information systems also monitor data that is sent to outside sources in accordance with government standards. It is a delicate balance to insure that caregivers have the information needed to provide optimum patient care while at the same time restricting access to information to those who don’t have a “need to know.”
It’s an exciting time to be in healthcare and in Information Technology. The field is rapidly growing and our staff is working hand in hand with the physicians and all clinical support staff. Our new facility was designed to optimize workflow and provide the latest in technology as the tools the clinicians need at the bedside.
A New Era for Managing Patient Information
by Lisa Engle, Director of Information Systems
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