Computers and the Health

Professionals
Chapter 1
Understanding the Role of Computer
Systems to Health Professionals
Topic 1
Manual Health
Care System
Advantages
• Easy to implement
• Low cost
• No extra training required
• Requires minimum effort
• Quick processing
• Can be stored anywhere
• Cannot be easily corrupted (with proper data storage)
• Easy to prepare
• Data profiling can be processed easily
• Readiness of Data
Manual Health
Care System
Disadvantages
• Problem with maintenance
• Volume of data becomes a problem (storage problem)
• Needs a lot of paper
• Problem with flavescent paper
• Problem with interpretation/transcription
• Data is not converted easily to information
• Readiness of the information (not data)
• Accessibility to any healthcare person
• Once the data is burned it cant be reproduced easily
• Coordination of data and information is problem
• Integration with other systems such as laboratory, accounting etc is
a problem
• Data handling is a problem
Computer
Information System
Advantages
• Data Maintenance
• Low maintenance cost
• Volume of data is not an issue
• No Paper is required
• No problem with interpretation/transcription
• Data can be converted easily to information
• Readiness of the information and data
• Accessibility to any healthcare personnel and accessibility to any
healthcare institution
• Data cannot be corrupted easily (with proper back-up)
• Can integrate with the other systems such as laboratory, pharmacy,
accounting management , etc.
• Data handling is easy
• Data integrity is preserved
• Statistical Information System can be provided
• Can be expanded
• Easy data profiling
Computer
Information System
Disadvantages
• Implementation requires severe justification
• High starting cost requires training for nursing and
healthcare giver
• Requires additional effort to implement
• Additional manpower is necessary
• Special storage is necessary
• Data communication system will have an additional cost
• Data can be easily corrupted (if no back-up is provided)
• Readiness of data and information is possible when
software is provided in the healthcare information system)
• Requires extensive planning, designing and commercial
implementation
• Information management is essential
Application of Computer to
Health Professions
Topic 2
Application of Computer to Health Professions

• Automatic searching of parallel records for medically ill person and critical medical
information
• Automatic searching of nationwide databases holding registries of patients with
critical problems
• Automated review of similar patients to determine expected lengths of stay, costs
and rates of complications
• System will allow the user to very easily pull information from vast numbers of
patients (without names!) into spreadsheets to create instant displays of outcome,
treatment paths and options
• Improved communication between multiple providers to reduce the “it slipped
through the cracks” syndrome that plague the smooth running of operating rooms
Application of Computer to Health Professions

• Patient Care and Management – care providers are using data entry devices to
document care given both at the bedside and at central terminals
• Patient Records – compilation of patient or test data, maintenance and retrieval of
these records and use of these records for billing and usage and outcome analysis
• Patient Monitoring – by recording patient data on-line and from various tests.
• Exchange of medical data – from compilation and maintenance of databases
• Interactive medical education – from database and tutorial software
• Physician decision making – from the use of patient records and other databases
Computers for the Health
Professionals
Topic 3
 • According to Health
Research, computers are
already in used in
Computers for the healthcare system since
1978 in some of the
Health Professionals prominent hospitals in
Manila; however, it is
only used for admission
processes.
 • Today, Computers can
perform a wide range of
activities that save time and
help the health care
provider deliver quality care
Computers for the such as admission,
discharge, and transfer,
Health Professionals patient health records and
database, patient
monitoring, patient
mapping, duty schedule,
patient profiling, decision
support and etc.
Healthcare Informatics
Topic 4
 • Is the integration of information science,
health science, computer science and
cognitive science.
• Is the derivative of the holistic objective
of the medical practitioners such as

What is nurse, healthcare providers, physicians,

healthcare staffs, etc.

Healthcare
Informatics?
 • Medical Informatics
• Health Informatics
Four • Dental Informatics
Subgroups of • Nursing Informatics
Healthcare
Informatics
Understanding Health
Informatics
Topic 5
What is Health Informatics?

Is a specialty that integrates It also facilitates the integration of

medical science, computer science data, information, and knowledge
and information system to manage to support patients and other
and communicate data providers in their decision making
information, and knowledge in in all roles and setting.
professional practice.
Information Structure

Medical
Science

Computer
Science

Enhance the quality of service

and professional practice
Health Informatics Specialist
Topic 6
Importance of having Health
Informatics Specialist
Most health providers and medical practitioners are not
inclined in computer automation or should I say they are
adequately trained in information technology but they are very
good as a healthcare provider. As computers become
increasingly important, health informatics specialist become
even more important in bridging the gap between clinical care
skills and technology
Responsibility of a Health
Informatics Specialist
• To provide clinical information and data analysis for effective
patient care and monitoring. In addition, they work with
computer systems, data and information analysis systems as
statistical information system to ensure optimal healthcare is
provided.
Specific Role of Health
Information Specialist
Topic 7
Role of a Health Information Specialist
• To employ informatics theories, concepts, methods and
tools to analyze information and information system
requirements; design, select, implement and evaluate
information systems, data structures and decision-support
mechanisms that support patients, medical practitioners
and their human-computer interactions within health care
contexts; and to facilitate the creation of new basic
knowledge.
EVOLUTION
OF
COMPUTERS
Topic 2
 PRE-MODERN ERA

FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS

(1951-1958) 
SECOND GENERATION COMPUTERS
(1959-1963)
Timeline THIRD GENERATION COMPUTERS
(1964-1970)
FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTERS
(1971-present)
FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTERS
(Future)
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Pre-Modern Era
Manual-Mechanical Devices
Are devices that are operated manually
by the user. The examples of manual-
mechanics devices are:
1. ABACUS
It is also called counting frame and
its considered as the first man-made
computing device. It uses beads and
it was invented in China.

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 Pre-Modern Era: Manual-
Mechanical devices
2. Napier’s Bones
It is manually-operated
device used for
calculating products
and quotients. It was
invented by John
Napier

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Pre-Modern Era: Manual-
Mechanical devices
3. Oughtred’s Slide Rule
It is mechanical analog
computer consist of
movable bars with a
precise scale which uses
approximations for solving
problems like
multiplication, division
roots logarithms and trigo.

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 4. Pascaline Calculator
Pre-Modern Era: It is also called Adding Machine. It wheels
Manual- that used to add and subtract two numbers.
It was invented by Blaise Pascal
Mechanical
devices
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 Pre-Modern Era: Manual-
Mechanical devices
5. Leibniz Calculator
It is also called stepped
drum and is considered the
improved Pascaline which
is could multiply and
divide. It was invented by
Gottfried Leibniz.

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 6. Babbage’s Difference and Analytical Engines
Pre-Modern Era: These engines embodied most of the design of modem
Manual- computers. The difference engine can compute tables and
the Analytical engine is completely automatic and is
Mechanical capable of calculating any mathematical problems.

devices
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Pre-Modern Era
Electro-Mechanical Devices
Refer to mechanical devices powered
by electronic motor and use switches
and relays. The examples are:
1. Hollerith Card
It is first use of punched cards to
store data. It was developed by
Herman Hollerith

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Pre-Modern Era: Electro-
Mechanical Devices
2. Automatic Weaving
Loom
It uses the concept of
punched card to
control a sequence of
operation. It was
invented by Joseph
Marie Jacquard
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 Pre-Modern Era: Electro-
Mechanical Devices
3. Automatic Sequence
Controlled Calculator
is the first general-
purpose electro-
mechanical computer and
it invented by Howard H.
Aiken
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Pre-Modern Era
Electronic Devices
Their principal components of
electronic devices are circuits
boards, transistors or silicon chips
relays. The examples the following:
1. ABC (Atanasoff-Berry-
Computer)
The first special digital computer
that solves simultaneous equations.
It was developed by John Atanasoff

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Pre-Modern Era:
Electronic Devices
3. Electronic Numerical
Integrator and
Calculator (ENIAC)
The first fully electronic
general-purpose digital
computer ever compiled by
John Mauchly and J.
Presper Eckert.
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 Pre-Modern Era:
Electronic Devices
4. Electronic Discrete
Variable Automatic
Computer (EDVAC)
It is completely internally
programmed machine. This is
simply the enhancement of
ENIAC to overcome its
limitations.
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 Pre-Modern Era:
Electronic Devices
4. Electronic Delay Storage
Automatic Calculator
it is known as Electronic Binary
Digital Computer that uses binary
representation of data and
internally stored program: the first
full-sized stored-program
computer, built at the University of
Cambridge. England by Maurice
Wilkes and others.
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First Generation
Computers (1951-1958)
The size of computers during
the first generation
computers are mainframes.
The major hardware features
are vacuum tubes and
magnetic drums and the
processing speed is 1,000
instructions per second.

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First Generation
Computers (1951-1958)
Universal Automatic Computer
(UNIVAC)
it is the first commercial
business computer and was
developed by John Presper
Eckert and John Mauchly.

IBM 701
it is the first generation IBM
computers.

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Second Generation
Computers (1959-1963)
The major hardware features of
second generation computers
are transistors and
magnetic core. Its
processing speed is
1,000,000 instructions per
second and the size is
mainframe

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 Second Generation
Computers (1959-1963)
TRADIC
it is the first
transistorized computer

More example are:

UNIVAC II, IBM 7070,
7090 and 1400 series
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 Third Generation
Computers (1964-1970)
During the third gen,
minicomputers already
became available. The
major hardware features are
integrated circuits or
“Chips” and the processing
speed is 10,000,000
instructions per second

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 Third Generation
Computers (1964-1970)
IBM System 360
it is the first general-
purpose machine
used in science and
business.

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 Fourth Generation
Computers (1971-present)

The size of computers varies

from mainframes,
minicomputers and
microcomputers.
The hardware features are
microprocessors and
minimum processing speed
is 100,000,000 instructions
per second.
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 Fourth Generation
Computers (1971-present)
Some of examples of fourth
generation of computers
are IBM System 370,
System 3090, IBM PC –
XT based computers,
Pentium series, Dual core,
Quad core and i series.

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CLASSIFICATI
ON OF
COMPUTERS
Topic 3
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS

1 2 3
According to According to Data According to
Purpose Handled Capacity

48
According to Purpose

General-purpose computers Special-purpose computers

• have the ability to store different • Are designed to perform one specific
programs of instruction and thus, task. The program of instructions is
perform a variety of operations. built into, or permanently stored in the
• Ex. PC, Laptop and tablets. machine.
• Ex. Highway tolls, air traffic control,
satellite tracking and atm machines

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According to Data Handled

Analog Computers Digital Computers Hybrid Computers

• Are used for scientific , • Refer to machines that • It offers an efficient and
engineering and process specialize in counting. It economical method of
control purposes operates by counting values working out special types
• Ex. Speedometer in auto that are discrete, or separate of problems in science and
and distinct various areas of
engineering.

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According to
Capacity
•Capacity refers to amount of data that
can be stored in memory, the speed of
internal operation of the computer,
capacity of storage devices and number
and types of peripheral devices.
• Microcomputers
• Minicomputers
• Mainframes
• Supercomputer

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Components of
Computer
System
Topic 4
Components of Computer System

1 2 3
Hardware Software Peopleware
Refers to the internal and Refers to a set of instructions Refers to the personnel involved
external physical compositions that is to be executed by the within the computer installation
of the computer computer called program. or could be anybody who wants
their job to be done using
computer

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