Should information systems be structured differently to facilitate the DIKW transformation? Please explain.
I think that information systems should be structured to enhance the nurse and provider experience and support the DIKW pathway. Information systems should help facilitate quality and safe care and if it doesn’t, then it is not really useful to the nurse, provider, and the patient. When hospitals implement electronic health records, the nurses and providers should have a voice in what system are implemented. Take for instance the system that I work with, it is called AHTLA. I find the system cumbersome and not user friendly. There are too many tabs and too many places to chart the same information. The system goes down at least once a week and you are unable to document. The only really good thing about the system is that our patient population is transient and if they happen to move to another duty station the medical information can be retrieved at the new military treatment facility. We were also supposed to have linked with the VA system, but I am not sure that has been fully implemented.
Many of the new information systems, to include: electronic health records, personal health records, smart assistive tools, and stand alone applications have been implemented to assist with the DIKW pathway. By using information in the EHR it allows for the “aggregation of authentic, real time patient data opportunities for early intervention to prevent health problems or manage existing conditions” (Moen & Knudsen, 2013, p. 89). If you have a good EHR that is user friendly, functional, provides for safety and quality patient care, and assists the nurses and providers in the DIKW pathway, it’s a win for everyone.
References
Moen, A., & Mæland Knudsen, L. M. (2013). Nursing informatics: Decades of contribution to health informatics. Healthcare Informatics Research, 19(2), 86–92. doi: 10.4258/hir.2013.19.2.86