Examining the Role of Nurses and Medical Informaticists in Budget Planning and Financial Crisis Management

Examining the Role of Nurses and Medical Informaticists in Budget Planning and Financial Crisis Management

Technological advances that characterize global economic sectors have a footprint in healthcare. Diverse technologies continue to define and refine healthcare operationalizations. Their effectiveness in improving clinical and health outcomes is, however, dependent on how healthcare systems can effectively use these technologies. Nurse informaticists are integral to the effective use of various healthcare technologies (Forman et al., 2019). They leverage various healthcare technologies to transform healthcare delivery and improve the patient’s health and clinical outcomes. To determine nurse informaticists’ input into the budget planning process, I interviewed Mrs. Kerry, a nurse informaticist at a local healthcare facility.

Mrs. Kerry noted that the nurse informaticist’s role is an evolving field in modern healthcare. Nurse informaticists play a role in leveraging health technologies in the conventional healthcare care delivery system. Their knowledge and expertise in diverse healthcare technologies make them valuable in evaluating existing healthcare technologies, assessing the organizational capacity to integrate new technologies, educating caregivers on technology use, and participating in data gathering, collection, and analysis to improve workflow within care organizations (Booth et al., 2021). According to Mrs. Kerry, nurse informaticists are significantly involved in budget planning processes for healthcare organizations. She noted that her expertise in various technologies and her knowledge of data analytics allows her to inform aspects of budgeting, such as financial forecasts and training needs on various technologies for healthcare providers, both of which are integrated within healthcare budgets.

As experts in data analytics, nurse informaticists can analyze existing data on organizational cash flows. This can enable the organization to identify apparent money bleeds and ultimately result in cost savings for the organization. Additionally, as experts in healthcare technologies, nurse informaticists can help identify budgetary areas that can be improved using healthcare technologies (Kiessling et al., 2022). With advancements in health information technologies, nurse informaticists can recommend the use of meaningful technologies that can help save hospital resources. For instance, health information technologies such as telehealth can be used instead of routine visitation of patients under the care continuum, thus saving the hospital logistical costs that would have otherwise been incurred when nurses do routine monitoring for patients under home-based care. This further highlights the significance of nurse informaticists in modern healthcare.

As part of the budget planning committees, nurse informaticists may sometimes be part of a financial crisis. Mrs. Kerry noted that she had once been part of a financial crisis. In this instance, the hospital suffered considerable financial bleeds that caused it to run into debt. Preliminary investigations into the situation revealed that the hospital was losing money due to service inefficiencies, deteriorating quality of healthcare, and poor governance. While the hospital’s administration and the board of directors worked to correct the governance problem, Mrs. Kerry was part of the task force that was tasked with recommending how to bolster the quality of care delivered in the hospital and enhance operational efficiency within the organization. Mrs. Kerry added that her role in the case was to advise on how various technologies can be leveraged to enhance service efficiency and improve the quality of care delivered in the hospital. Her recommendations saw the implementation of electronic health records in inpatient care and the integration of clinical decision aids, such as a clinical decision support system, that considerably improved the quality of care delivered in the hospital. This further highlighted the significance of nurse informaticists in healthcare and how they can be leveraged to enhance the quality of care within care organizations.

References

Booth, R. G., Strudwick, G., McBride, S., O’Connor, S., & Solano López, A. L. (2021). How the nursing profession should adapt for a digital future. BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1190

Forman, T. M., Armor, D. A., & Miller, A. S. (2019). A review of clinical informatics competencies in nursing to inform best practices in education and nurse faculty development. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000588

Kiessling, K. A., Iott, B. E., Pater, J. A., Toscos, T. R., Wagner, S. R., Gottlieb, L. M., & Veinot, T. C. (2022). Health informatics interventions to minimize out-of-pocket medication costs for patients: What providers want. JAMIA Open, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/

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. Interview a nurse or medical informaticist to determine their input into the budget planning process for the organization.

Examining the Role of Nurses and Medical Informaticists in Budget Planning and Financial Crisis Management

Have they been a part of a financial crisis at the organization? If so, describe.