The document discusses the dual nature of informatics, which refers to how informatics can improve health outcomes for individual patients through tools like EHRs and CDS at the point of care, and also for groups of patients through data warehousing and mining of patient information in EHRs. It provides a scenario about a patient, Mrs. Jones, presenting with dizzy spells and nausea, and prompts the reader to consider what information should be collected from Mrs. Jones and how it could help her care and be aggregated to help other similar patients.

1. The Dual Nature of Informatics
Informatics can be used for improving health outcomes not only
for individual patients, but also for whole groups of patients
with similar conditions. This is often referred to as the dual
nature of informatics. Technologies, such as electronic health
records (EHRs) and clinical decision support (CDS) systems,
can provide insights and guidance for health care professionals
at the point of care. In addition, data warehousing and mining
allow health care organizations to use the vast amount of
information stored in EHRs to make predictions and diagnoses
for other patients with similar conditions.
In this Discussion, you examine the dual nature of informatics.
First, you review a scenario and consider the patient
information to be collected and recorded at the point of care.
Then, you decide how this information could be aggregated for
population health and future use.
Consider the following scenario:
Mrs. Jones has come into your office stating that she has been
experiencing frequent dizzy spells. She also reports that she has
been unable to eat anything substantial over the last few days
due to extreme nausea. The last time Mrs. Jones was in your
office, the physician had suggested she start walking around the
block or bicycling around the neighborhood to get her activity
level up. Mrs. Jones admits that she did very little of that after a
“ flip-flop” feeling of her heart scared her. You know that her
symptoms could be a result of many conditions. Following the
prompts on your informatics system, you begin to gather more
specific information about Mrs. Jones’ symptoms and health
history.

2. To prepare:
Based on the scenario, what information would you want to
immediately gather about Mrs. Jones?
With that in mind, compile a list of patient questions you would
like an EHR documentation screen to have.
How might the information derived from these questions help
you provide high-quality care to Mrs. Jones?
Once this information is collected, what alerts might be critical
to the evaluation of Mrs. Jones?
Review this week’s media presentation,
Dual Nature of Informatics Systems
, and reflect on the movement towards more transparent data
and meaningful use. How might the data entered about an
individual patient help to build preventative care and treatment
for whole populations?
Refer back to your list of patient questions. Of these questions,
which would generate data that could be aggregated for use with
a larger group of patients? (
Note:
When developing your questions, consider the whole patient.)
Post on Tuesday 06/06/2016 a minimum of 550 words in APA
format with 4 references
1)
A description of the ideal EHR documentation screen that you
would like to have at the point of care for all patients and why.
2)
Explain how information gathered at the point of care with an
individual patient can be aggregated to help provide high
quality care to a larger population of patients.
Required Resources

3. Readings
Saba, V. K., & McCormick, K. A. (2015).
Essentials of nursing informatics
(6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Chapter 1, “Historical Perspectives of Nursing Informatics”
In this chapter, the authors explain the transition from paper-
based records to electronic records. The chapter provides an
overview of the historical events that contributed to the rise of
electronic health records.
Liaw, S.-T., & Boyle, D. I. R. (2010). Primary care informatics
and integrated care.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151,
255–268.
Retrieved from the Walden University databases.
This article discusses how the health care field can be reformed
by increasing access to information across organizations and
professionals. The authors of the article justify the need for this
reform and provide guidance on how it can be achieved.
Mitchell, J. K. (2011). Nursing informatics 101: Using
technology to improve patient care.
ONS Connect, 26
(4), 8–12.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
The emergence of nursing informatics in health care is the main
topic of this article. New trends in informatics are discussed, as
well as the certification process, nurse education, and the
implementation of new systems to support patient care.
Morath, J. (2011). Nurses create a culture of patient safety: It
takes more than projects.
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing
,
16

4. (3).
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
The author of this article emphasizes the need for nurses to
develop skills for improving care and embracing new health
care innovations. The author also describes the connection
between individual nursing practice and the system-wide
success of informatics.
Reiner, B. I. (2011). Improving healthcare delivery through
patient informatics and quality centric data.
Journal of Digital Imaging, 24
(2), 177–178.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
In this article, the author analyzes the impact of the movement
towards digitized medical data on patient care. The author
discusses how this movement places more responsibility and
empowerment on the patient.
Media
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012b).
Dual nature of informatics systems
. Baltimore: Author.
Note:
The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.
In this week’s media presentation, Gail Latimer, Dr. Patricia
Button, and Dr. Roy Simpson discuss one of the most important
aspects of informatics: the collection and aggregation of health
information. The electronic health record (EHR) is discussed, as
well as the nurse’s roles in working with EHR systems.