Ecosystems Effecting Healthcare
Introduction
John Hopkins hospital is one of the many health care centers that have been developed due to the social and political conditions that have evolved in the environment. The founder of the hospital, John Hopkins, was influenced by social conditions facing the human population that lead Hopkins to come up with the health care center. Laws and economic conditions that have surrounded communities in the last couple of years have influenced the development of the organization. The major motivation behind the development of John Hopkins hospital is of social factor and is influenced by legislation. The mission of John Hopkins Hospital has been and still, is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in patient care. Since the development of the institution in 1862, the mission has been to be the world’s preeminent health care institution by providing the highest quality of care and service for all people in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illness. The Johns Hopkins Hospital operates cooperatively and interdependently with the faculty of The John Hopkins University to support education in the health professions and research development into the causes and treatment of human illness. They continue to be the leading health care institution in the application of discovery and because of such the organization attracts and supports physicians and other health care professionals of the highest character and greatest skill. Below illustrates examples of how this mission statement continues to provide innovative services throughout the community, e.g., disease treatment and control, preventive maintenance, measurable treatment conditions, cancer treatment, and the development of quality care to patient.
John Hopkins

The World War II effects on families in Baltimore influenced Hopkins to create and develop the institution in 1892. The local community was faced with the epidemic of cholera; it threatened the survival of the community (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2012). The war exposed the community with the danger of contracting the disease (cholera) due to the lack of sanitation development that had been ignored by the government’s focus on financing the war. Hopkins came up with a program that targeted poor families around the community to help combat the disease in the society. This influenced the development of the institution in the community that has influenced the current conditions of the hospital. The institution has in the last few years invested in developing and providing quality services to the community. One of the areas that the institution has extended its development in is on cancer treatment. The institution has initiated a program that will address ways of dealing with the disease that has threatened the survival of the entire community. This has been done through sponsorship of students at the University of Hopkins in carrying out research towards the treatment of the disease (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2012). This has the capacity of improving the future development of the services that the institution provides to the community. Because of legislation, one issue that has affected the growth at John Hopkins stems from a legislative policy aimed at reducing hospital errors by improving the quality of care to the patient. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a policy in September of 2008 to improve the quality of care that patients receive in the hospital setting and to reduce Medicare expenditures associated with the treatment of preventable errors, injuries and infections. By shifting the cost of medical errors onto hospitals, it was thought that hospital administrations would have an increased incentive to improve the quality of care provided to the patient. In 2009, CMS announced its intention to stop all payments to hospitals and physicians for three so called ‘never events’: surgery on the wrong patient, the wrong surgical procedure and surgery on the wrong body part. The impact of “non-payment” had a cause and effect reaction at John Hopkins. Administration developed committees that specifically concentrated on quality of care initiatives to address the CMS expanded list of conditions deemed “reasonably preventable.” Adoption and implementation has affected the growth at John Hopkins. Hospitals and providers have been affected by the implementation of the CMS policy. In order to receive payment, providers must evaluate and report conditions are ‘present-on-admission’, so new efforts to collect data prior to the admission of a patient have been implemented. “Present-on admission” conditions are not part of the payment policy and would be reimbursed by Medicare. Since John Hopkins is a teaching facility, providers argue that the ability of hospital staff to diagnose and report ‘present-on-admission’ conditions is limited to experience and time consuming.
Today, the focus at John Hopkins indeed is on quality health care and is currently participating in a national quality initiative program, specifically for the Johns Hopkins Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Parkinson disease (PD) affects millions of people worldwide. With no cure and no effective ways to prevent it, PD is a huge public health challenge. The National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) is an international organization dedicated to helping PD patients’ lives through promoting research, improving care, and increasing access to expert care. The NPF Quality Improvement Initiative (QII) uses a model to measure the disease. NPF has launched the first data driven quality improvement initiative to introduce to Parkinson’s disease as a focus on continuous improvement. This project systematically measures and tracks care over time for every patient diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The goal is to explore the variation in current clinical practice in order to determine best outcomes in Parkinson’s. The Johns Hopkins Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center’s ultimate aim is to create and share models of excellent care, so that every Parkinson’s patient receives the most effective treatment options available, whether they are seen by a specialist, a general neurologist or their primary care physician. Overall care is very complicated because it requires considering the age of patients, their stage of the disease, the multiple medications used to manage it, their social support situation, and any other health issues. Learning what represents the best care for every patient is the key goal of QII at John Hopkins Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center (Zoltan 2011). As for the development of reportable data regarding the treatment of cancer, the institution has used the information generated by the students to come up with various medical programs on cancer patients. The students have helped the institution come up with facilities that are tailored towards the management of cancer patients. (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2012) One stage of information that has been significant in managing cancer patients in the hospital is the use of role models. The institution has been using the success of individuals who have been infected by the disease to encourage other patient’s participation. This has boosted the survival of cancer patients. The trend of the disease analysis using modern technology has helped the institution develop today’s modern facilities in healing the disease. The institution is involved in social awareness campaigns that help provide society with the knowledge to understand the disease. By the information generated through technological regression, the institution has been able to reach out to individuals who face the risk of contracting the disease. The trend analysis developed using computer technology helps hospital administrative officials at John Hopkins identify possible candidates who have a high risk of contracting the disease. The information that is generated has the ability to identify the demographic characteristics of cancer victims from the past to predict the trend of the disease in future. This is used by management of the institution in coming up with programs that will enforce the protection of the disease throughout the community.
Summary
Health care informatics plays a significant part of the health care sector in solving problems that face the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry is able to share ideas that are capable of solving problems that face the industry through this program (Houston & Bove, 2010). This has the capacity of facilitating the development of future services in the health care sector in serving patients and disbursing services. Regulation of health care informatics by the government bodies is vital in ensuring the reliability and validity of the information that is shared in the industry. Information that is distributed in the public domain has the potential of influencing the actions the affected industry takes. Thus, regulations ensure that the information that is published is free from bias that may mislead the sector in coming up with solutions. Informatics in the industry plays a critical role in implementing the regulation of medical information by the federal government (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2012). This enables the industry to enhance the quality of information that is distributed to the public and within the sector. Development of informatics in the health care industry has the capacity of improving service delivery by the sector to patients in the society (William, 2005). This is because the industry will be able to share vital information that will enable health care institutions in providing quality and advanced services to the patients.

Reference
Houston, S., & Bove, L. A. ( 2010). Project Management for Healthcare Informatics. Chicago: Telso.
Hoyt, R. E., Sutton, M., & Yoshihashi, A. ( 2008). Medical Informatics: Practical Guide for the Healthcare. New York: Wiley.
Hoyt, R. E., Sutton, M., & Yoshihashi, A. ( 2008). Medical Informatics: Practical Guide for the Healthcare. Washington: Oxford.
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2012, October). The History of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved from About Johns Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/history/
William, H. C. ( 2005). Healthcare Informatics. New York: Cengage.
Zoltan, Mari (2011). John Hopkins Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center. The
National Parkinson Foundation’s Quality Improvement Initiative at John Hopkins.
Maryland: Whitlock