Journal of Health Information Management
Year:2008 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:12

Introduction: Increasing costs in almost all of the governments and organizations persuade them to analysis their services in financial and economic dimensions. Because of increasing unnecessary costs, community is limited to achieve social effective goals for health services. We surveyed cost accounting of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences database to to assess its cost benefit.Methods: Current research was descriptive and retrospective. Data collection was carried out through a checklist considering human resource expenditure, consuming material expenditure, capital material depreciation expenditure and Purchase fee. Then the average of expenditure was compared with the amount of article use in each database (Proquest, Blackwell, Springer, Ovid, and Elsevier).Results: Among databases, Elsevier had the most and Springer had the least cost benefit. Conclusion: Manager of informatics system must use management techniques, such as cost analysis method, to make the best decision to decrease the costs.

Introduction: The medical world needs access to the most recent findings of the researchers in the field every minutes. Electronic journals provide a useful and fast mechanism for distribution of scientific information. Providing free-access electronic journals are a complimentary resource for libraries, which should provide the best and fastest access to the information for researchers. This study assess citing free medical electronic journals of the DOAJ database in the Iranian peer-reviewed journals of the medical science universities.Methods: This is a descriptive survey to analyze the citations in the scientific-research journals of the type one medical universities in Iran during 2005 and 2006, specifically analyzing citing to 369 free access electronic journals of the DOAJ database. Data were collected using two different checklists, one for the number of citations in Iranian journals and the other for the collecting citing free access journals of DOAJ database in the Iranian scientific-research journals. The checklists' validity was approved by professionals and the data were analyzed by SPSS software.Results: Citing to free access electronic journals is less than one percent and it didn't grow in 2006 compared to 2005. Daru Journal published by Pharmaceutics Faculty of the Tehran Medical Science University and Iranian Urology Journal published by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences had the highest rate of citations from free access medial electronic journals. Also, public health and medicine subjects used more citations from the free access electronic journals compared to other medical subjects. From among 369 free access electronic journals, BMC Public Health with 2 citation about public health had the highest rate.Conclusion: It sounds necessary to find free accessed electronic journals available in libraries and medical information centers and introduce them to the medical society in various ways. Because the mission of libraries in educational, health care and medical institutions is to facilitate rapid access to the information researchers need.

Introduction: Information technology and computers made an information explosion in past decade and now there is a need for a system to produce and manage information. This study investigated the application of information systems in hospitals. Doctors, nurses and other health care personnel need medical information for the treatment of their patients. Testing and correction in health care system is very wrong and unrepairable. Therefore, management based on accurate, exact and timely information and developing an information management system is very important in these institutions. This paper investigates the application of information systems in hospitals and their advantages and disadvantages.Methods: This is a descriptive and theoretical review study. The research population included hospital managers of the Isfahan city. The sample size was 15 based on the research population and sampling method was random stratified. Data were collected using a checklist which included 18 questions about duties, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the information systems with r=0.90. The content validity was approved by the professionals. Data were also collected by organized interviews with the hospital managers. To analyize data, the replies were coded and presented in three categories of duties, characteristics and effects of information systems on the institutional culture.Results: Findings showed that: 1. hospitals have 11 subsystems including acceptance, patient's leave and expenses, archive, laboratory, operation rooms, medical documentation management, wards management, radiology, nursing, pharmacy and drug store, hospital statistics and information, 2. the advantages of the information systems in hospitals include saving time, reducing human resources expenses, speeding information remittance, increasing information accessibility, 3. the disadvantages of information systems include secrecy of patients information and medical documentation, lack of cooperation by related institutions, high expenses of the information systems.Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that information systems in the hospitals include 6 general subsystems of services, billing, equipments, resource management, treatment and public health; and the cultural factors of the institution influence all of these subsystems.

Introduction: Information technology is a collection of instruments, equipments and skills that apply for storage, gathering and transfering of information. According to researches, different countries have tendency to information technology because of its advantages; for example reduce of costs, rapid and easy transfer of information and economize to time. With attention to role of information technology in utilization and relieve of centeralization, this study has paid to results of information technology in administrative departments of central building of Shiraz university of medical sciences.Methods: It was a descriptive study; data were collected by questionnaire included identification data of sample, time and duration of utilization of information technology in job functions, and its advantages in accounting and administrative departments of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Data were analysed by SPSS and excel softwares. Validity of questionnaire was based on content validity.Results: The findings revealed that the most utilization of information technology was rapid performance of function (60.7%) and minimum advantages were access to goals of functions (18.5%). Optimum application of software was about Word (56%) and minimum of it was online communications (5.3%). Conclusion: Advantage of utilization of information technology in administrative units was reduction of cost, better quality, and rapid performance of function. Application of information technology in security of information was minimum, because there was not any suitable software.

Introduction: This study investigates the effective factors and usage of subscribed databases by faculty members of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2006-7.Methods: A sample of 129 faculty members was randomly selected. The size of sample was determined by Cochrane's formula. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire validity was measured by testing on a small group of faculty members in pilot study and consulting some information technology specialists. The reliability of questionnaire was verified by Cronbach's a.Results: Findings revealed that Science Direct had the highest rate of usage compared to other databases while Willey was used the least. The results also showed that the main reason for low rate of database usage was related to low quality of information provided by databases and second to that was the lack of useful databases.Conclusion: It seems necessary to provide workshops and instruction materials for the faculty member to improve the usage of databases, or reconsider subscription for those databases with low rate of usage.

Introduction: The hospital discharge process is a basic bottleneck in hospital management. Improved discharge process is the main strategy that covers many hospital activities. Discharge process is the last patient’s contact with hospital system. Therefore, it is the most important stage affecting patient’s satisfaction. If this process takes long, not only it makes patients dissatisfied but it also will not be beneficial for the hospital. The main objective was determining average waiting time of patient discharge process at Beheshti Hospital in Esfahan, Iran in the spring of 2006.Methods: This study was case study in which data were collected by questionnaires, observation and forms. The statistical population was all personnel involved in discharge process and patients discharged throughout the spring of 2006. To analyze data SPSS and Win QSB (Windows Quantative Systems for Business) were used.Results: According to the personnel’s views, the main factors affecting average waiting time were patients’ financial problems and un-accessibility of interns to complete the summery sheets. The longest patient’s waiting time for discharge was 345 minutes and the least was 35 minutes. Average time for patients in discharge process was 197 (±65) minutes.Conclusion: Discharge planning is a routine feature of health systems in many countries. Hospital information system should be implemented at least between wards, Para-clinics stations, accounting and cashier station. It causes many stages in manual patients’ discharge process will be omitted.

Introduction: Management information systems are an effective factor in improvement of managers' decision-making procedure. This study investigates the relationship between establishment of management information systems and organizational structure in governmental offices in the city of Kerman.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and the study population includes experts working in the governmental offices in the city of Kerman. The size of sample was 385 experts based on cluster sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire comprised of two sections of management information systems and organizational structure (formality, complexity and centralization). The questionnaire was valid with 83% for management information system and 82% for organizational structure using content validity method. The reliability was 92% and 88% respectively by test-retest technique and correlation coefficient. Data were analyzed by entering to SPSS software and using Spearman's rank correlation, Kendall tau correlation coefficient and Log linear Model.Results: There was a significant direct relationship between management information systems and centralization variable with correlation coefficients (Kendall 408/0 and Spearman 309/0). The relationship between management information systems and formality variable was significant but inverse with correlation coefficients of Kendall 0.314 and Spearman 0.238. Conclusion: The establishment of management information system in governmental offices increased the centralization of decision-making in management levels and the horizontal complexity, and decreased organizational formalities and hierarchy.

Introduction: The purpose of present research is to investigate psychometrics properties of internet Assessment Scale (IAS-40),as a comprehensive instrument which includes four subscales: Internet Anxiety, Internet Usefulness, Enjoyment and Self efficacy Methods: This is a survey research .For this purpose,359 Esfahan, Najafabad and Khorasgan university students who have been engaged in education and study in 2006-2007 education year were selected as study sample.Results: The results of final analysis showed that all four subscales have high (internal consistency) and (test-retest) reliability. Concurrent validity of internal Anxiety (r=.53) and Self efficacy (r=.55) were significant.(p=.05).Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)showed that the four factors have completed harmony with main structure of questionnaire and all factors were significant.Conclusion: This scale is a valid, reliable and useful instrument.

Introduction: One of the most important problems in health care centers, especially hospitals encounter disasters, is incorrect planning to hospital preparation which would cause imbalance between needs and accessible resources that face hazard in provision quality of medical services. Methods: This was a descriptive study in which the educational hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences were assessed. A checklist was completed for each hospital by observation and interview with different persons according to case (hospital manager, matron, secretary of disaster board, and…). The data was analyzed descriptively SPSS software.Results: In planning perspective of supplies, Navab and Haftometir hospitals earned the highest score mean percent (66.6) and Hasheminezhad, Shafayahyaeian, Rasoul and Firozgar hospitals earned the lowest score mean percent (60.0).Conclusion: The organizations that do not prepare for crisis, do not characterize organizational structures during and after disaster, do not form responsiveness teams, and do not plan for securing and storing of materials and supplies, etc encounter irreparable financial and life loss. Also regard to deficiency supplies in surveyed hospitals, developing a stress plan is necessary in order to effectiveness use of available resources and prevention part of resources.

Introduction: Nowadays, importance of health information and managing health information resources is growing. Managing information resources requires a variety of knowledge and skills. So, information managers find themselves as a valuable person in health care organizations. This article aimed to overview the importance, roles, duties, and organizational position of information managers in health care organizations.Conclusion: Information managers would be as future powerful strategists in health care organizations; to this end, they must furnish themselves to a variety of knowledge and skills such as information management, information technology, and related technical issues, management capabilities and understanding clinical processes.