Free «Critique» Essay

From the discussion presented above, it is clear that the role of national health information infrastructure cannot be easily ignored in any country that wishes to provide best medical services to the citizens. A national health information infrastructure is one of the key components necessary to solve the crisis in healthcare cost, quality and access. The discussion has addressed three critical areas to be considered when establishing a national health information infrastructure which are privacy assurance, funding and making sure that all stakeholders are included in the corporation. These are critical areas that anyone wishing to establish a national health information infrastructure should put into consideration.

When it comes to funding, it is not possible to put up the infrastructure without finances. The infrastructure will require experts who will be paid and other valuable items. For privacy assurance, patients need privacy. A national health information infrastructure should not be accessed by public since there may be those with bad intentions. Establishing electronic databases may be one of the modern ways of storing records and ensuring that the records are safe (O’Carroll et al, 2003). Also, all stakeholders should be incorporated while establishing a national health information infrastructure. The stakeholders may include health experts, the government, the community and investors among others. However, there may be other areas that are equally important. Some of these areas that should also be addresses by a national health information infrastructure include public health, health care delivery, personal health management and research in the health sector (Detmer, 2003). If all these issues are addressed in a national health information infrastructure, it would be possible to improve the health services in the country. In the health sector, the most avoidable shortcomings may be linked lack of enough funding, lack of corporation from all stakeholders, lack of proper access to data, knowledge and information.