Health Information Technology

* A series of programs that carry out basic computing functions − Manage user interface, files, and memory − − Allows development of applications without having to include basic computer instructions

operating system

− responsible for managing all other programs that are subsequently used by the computer (Windows, Mac OS, Unix, and Linux)

» Proprietary are purchased and the actual source code is not made available to purchasers. The most popular operating systems are proprietary (Windows, Mac OD) » Open source became viable when a Finnish grad student developed a variant of the Unix system that he called Linux. It is widely available on the internet

Is “a software program designed to simplify the creation and management of interfaces between application systems”

− Interfaces between applications became increasingly important as health care systems moved from best of breed to more integrated architectures » Users wanted their various applications to be able to talk to one another » They wanted to eliminate the need for entering patient demographic info multiple times into separate systems − They are actually a form of middleware (a class of software that works between, or in the middle, or applications and operating systems)

· Data must be stored and maintained so that they can be retrieved and used within the applications

· are hierarchical and network and still may be used in some health care organizations as component of larger legacy systems

· is the type of database that is most commonly used today

à 1^st developed in the 1970s à Implemented through a relational database management system (RDBMS) (Microsoft Access is an example of a RDBMS for desktop computing, Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL are examples of more robust RDBMS that are used to develop larger applications)

* The interface is developed using software such as Visual Basic or Java (computer languages) * The data manipulation level has functions that are performed by a data manipulation language (DML). The DML is the software that allows the user to retrieve, query, update, and edit the data in the underlying tables * The table layer is created with a special type of software, a data definition language (DDL). The DDL creates the database table and the relationships among various tables. Each table can be thought of as a file with each row in a table being a record and each column being a field or piece of data

à A newer database structure in which the basic component is an object rather than a table * An object includes both data and the relationships among data in a single conceptual structure

Uses classes and subclasses that inherit characteristics from one another in a hierarchical manner

à is a product that has relational database capabilities plus the ability to add and use objects * Advantage is that many of the newer health care applications use video and graphical data, which an ORDBMS can handle better than a RDBMS * Also has the capability of incorporating hypermedia (allows data to be connected in web formations, with hyperlinks) and spatial data technology (allows data to be stored and accessed according to locations)

à Givers both users and developers a clear understanding of the data elements contained in the database à Confusion about data definitions can lead to poor quality data and even to poor decisions based on data misconceptions