CLINICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

•A clinical Information System (CIS) is a computer

based system that is designed for collecting,
storing, manipulating and making available
clinical information important to the healthcare
delivery process.

•Clinical Information Systems may be limited in

extent to a single area (e.g. laboratory systems,
ECG management systems) or they may be more
widespread and include virtually all aspects of
clinical information.
 Some of the areas addressed by
Clinical Information Systems are:
• Clinical Decision Support: This provides users with the
tools to acquire, manipulate, apply and display
appropriate information to aid in the making of correct,
timely and evidence-based clinical decisions.
• Electronic Medical Records (EMRs): This contains
information about the patient, from their personal
details, such as their name, age, address and sex to
details of every aspect of care given by the hospital.
• Training and Research: Patient information can be made
available to the physicians for the purpose of training and
research.
 Some of the benefits are:
• Easy Access to Patient Data: Clinical
Information Systems can provide convenient
access to medical records at all points of care.
• Structured Information: The clinical
information captured in Clinical Information
Systems is well organized.
• Improved Drug Prescription and Patient
Safety: Clinical Information Systems improve
drug dosing and this leads to the reduction of
adverse drug interactions.
 Despite the benefits being offered by Clinical Information
Systems, they are not without the barriers that prevent them
from being rolled out in every hospital. These include some of
the following:

• Initial Cost of Acquisition: The high cost of basic infrastructure

of clinical information technology can be a stumbling block to
many healthcare organizations.
• Privacy and Security: There are still huge concerns in the
healthcare industry about the privacy of patient data on
computer systems and how to keep such information secured.
• Clinician Resistance: Clinicians usually have 10-20 minutes to
see their patients and if their interactions with a CIS during
these sessions proves to be counterintuitive by taking up
more than is necessary.
• Integration of legacy Systems: This poses a stiff challenge to
many organizations.