My Experiences and Thoughts of

Health Informatics through

Bellevue College

Steven Fontanilla
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HCTM 485

Abstract
This scholarly paper was originally written as a research paper. It was filled with facts and
findings from medical sources and the internet. These views are based on my experiences and
perspective thought out the Healthcare Technology and Management program at Bellevue
College. The majority the material that has been written and typed is from my own original
words and thoughts.
The experiences that Ive noted throughout this paper are from my own personal experience in a
healthcare setting. Anything that Ive written about that happens behind the scenes is from what
Ive learned throughout the program. The process of going from paper based forms to electronic
forms is discussed as well as the importance of accessing them. Ive also noted the importance of
trust and confidentiality and how it all plays a role in Health Informatics.

Introduction
For as long as I can remember, Ive written all of my thoughts on paper. Towards the end of
grade school I was able to use a typewriter with a word processor. This all eventually lead me to
using a computer to print out assignments, reports, and play games. This was all just the
beginning in a career in Health Informatics.
Informatics in general is information that is processed, studied, and used later for a purpose.
Health Informatics involves the interactions between the caregiver and patient which is later
processed, studied, and possibly used later for a purpose. The ability to give the quality and care
towards a patient has and will always be our main priority. The ability to manage and interact
with our fellow students, employees, and management team was the other part of what weve
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learned throughout the program. Thats everything that weve been studying here at Bellevue
College for the last two years in a nutshell.
I still occasionally write my thoughts on paper which is mainly used during my thought
process/brainstorming. I find it very helpful to gather all of my thoughts on paper before I type it
up, but also very time consuming. Sometimes I still find it difficult to read my own handwriting
let alone others. This can possibly lead to errors and other dangers in the medical industry. This
was and has been a subject throughout the program, and how everything should be automated for
fast and efficient results.

The Typical Admittance Process in a Healthcare Facility

Generally most of our experiences that happen when being admitted in a healthcare facility are
either through an appointment or through urgent care. Its good to have a primary physician, but
during an emergency its also good to know where is the nearest urgent care. Its also good to
know how much medical coverage your insurance applies to your visit, whats left of the
copayment and final bill from your insurance. After youve checked in, youll be given several
forms to fill out to get a better understanding of the situation and your brief medical history.
Depending on your situation the admitting nurse can take a sample of your blood for tests, take
scans through an ultrasound or x-ray, all before or after youve seen the physician that was
assigned your case. The physician talks to you while looking at the forms youve filled out
previously. They then take a better look at the situation by examining the affected area(s).
Depending on if any tests were run before the primary examination of the physician they may or
may not run more tests before prescribing the patient with any necessary medication towards a
recovery and possible follow-up visit.
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Everything that Ive just mentioned above about being admitted to a healthcare facility, being
discharged, to go home with medication and possible follow up has been recorded one way of
another. The admitting nurse has to input your personal information into the healthcare facilities
system which includes the time you were officially admitted, the amount of nurses that checked
on you and the procedures and tests that they ran, the physician that was assigned to your case
their findings and diagnosis, any medication that was prescribed to you, a scheduled follow up
visit if necessary, and lastly the time that you were discharged from the healthcare facility.

Errors That Leads to Automation

The system that keeps all of this information is the center of health informatics. How this
information is stored both physically on paper, and stored for retention purposes. All of this is
eventually captured or inputted electronically, and is stored as long as the paper forms are being
kept. All of this is done with consent from both the patient and everyone employed at the
healthcare facility.
Having the trust and consent of a patient is also essential for this entire process to work. Nobody
likes to go to the hospital or any healthcare setting for that matter, so trust will always be an
issue. Studies and reports from the media dont help either unless there is a happy ending or
successful finding. The consent of the patient can be given at or refuse treatment for any reason
at any time during their visit to the healthcare facility.
Errors can also play a role in earning the trust of a patient(s) or perspective patient(s). Regardless
of the position or step(s) of the entire process in treating a patient there are possibilities of
making mistakes. The fact that we are not perfect should be considered throughout the entire
experience at the healthcare facility.
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A lot of errors that have been found in many studies are human errors. This can be due to many
things such as not being able to read the hand written forms from the patient and the attending
physician. The person that is inputting the data from the handwritten forms can misread an
allergy or medical history that can possibly affect the physicians diagnosis and form of
treatment. The doctors hand written prescription can also be misread by the dosage amount to
the actual drug that has been prescribed.
This is where certain things in the entire process of treating a patient can be automated to reduce
errors and any other dangerous scenarios towards the patents and healthcare facility employees.
Typically youd think of automation as robotic arms and or machines in part of as part of an
assembly line. Although robotic arms can be used in the healthcare setting, our main focus is the
admitting process.
As hard as it is to convert from paper forms to electronic based forms and procedures the
resistance can be found from both sides of the situation. The patient might not be familiar with
using an electronic device such as a computer, laptop, tablet, or handheld device such as a
smartphone. The staff in the healthcare facility might also be in the same boat with experiences
with electronic devices when theyre used to paper based forms and procedures. This is where
training and awareness is involved.
Finding the time and vendor to conduct the actual training is easier said than done. Its a process
that can be resisted from the entire medical staff or embraced for a safer and efficient
environment for the staff and patients. Finding the system that will fit the healthcare facilities
needs as well as the software and vendor to conduct the training is a task all in itself. Scheduling
the time for training on top of the staffs already hectic schedule will also be difficult. All of this

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and many unseen obstacles will get in the way between paper based forms and the patients
Electronic Health Records EHR.
The Electronic Health Records EHR is our personal file that is being kept in the healthcare
facility that we were just admitted to, and can also exists in other facilities that any patient has
visited in their lifetime. 10Through The Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health (HITECH) Act as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
allows us to request copies of your medical records that are maintained electronically. These
copies can be used for personal use, safe keeping, and can be handy during your next visit to
your primary physician or emergency room.

Final Thoughts
As patients in a healthcare setting, we dont actually think of what happens behind the scenes and
after weve left the facility. These days with high-speed internet and cutting edge technology we
can have access to our medical records. Trust and security go hand and hand especially in the
Health Information Technology HIT field. It can be taken away from us just as fast as it is
given to us. That is why confidentiality forms are made and signed by the patient(s) and
employees that can potentially gain access to them. It seems that no matter how hard we try to go
from paper based forms to electronic based forms we will never completely be rid seeing
handwritten paper based forms. This is the basis of what Ive learned throughout my time in the
Healthcare Technology and Management program at Bellevue College. Its been a wonderful
experience interacting with experienced individuals as well as likeminded students here at
Bellevue College. I cant wait to see and apply all that weve learned so far on the field, and Im
sure that well be learning more as we go along. Progression and change is all inevitable towards
quality care towards the patient(s) and us all.
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Page 7 of 9

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