1. The National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) is a requirement for interoperability between all hospitals in the United States. This infrastructure is a dream that is quickly becoming a reality following Health Information Technology (HIT) regulations and incentives. Exactly how a NHII works and what it looks like is becoming clearer, as EHR and informatics specialists work to create an interoperable system capable of providing access to complete medical information immediately upon request, thereby aiding in the decision-making process in a reliable manner (Yasnoff, Humphreys, Overhage, Detmer, Brennan, Morris, Middleton, Bates & Fanning, 2004). NHII has been developing incrementally, first with the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs) and continuing with other tools such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and patient portals. A proper NHII will provide instantaneous medical information that reveals accurate medical history, pharmaceutical guidance, and best practice recommendations that will reduce medical errors and produce better health outcomes.
2. There are many database vendors available on the internet, but there are a few vendors that are more readily used than others. The top three are Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM. The market is becoming increasingly competitive, and consumers are offered more choices than ever. With cloud computing becoming the new norm, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is becoming a bigger competitor. AWS will soon allow companies to transport an exabyte of information via truck, which took 20 years over previous dedicated connections. This availability allows for transportability of data that was previously unimaginable, and this type of technology is being marketed and researched to be made available through the cloud. The market is expected to continuously change with the added opportunity of cloud computing, as only 5-6 percent of big-company information is in the public cloud (Darrow, 2016). The future may continue to be dominated by the big 3 database vendors, but market changes are allowing for increased competition.
- Darrow, Barb. (2016). Expect Amazon’s Cloud to see hotter competition in 2017. Fortune. http://fortune.com/2016/12/29/amazon-web-services-2017-outlook/
- Yasnoff, W., Humphreys, B., Overhage, M., Detmer, D., Brennan, P., Morris, R., Middleton, B., Bates, D. & Fanning. (2004). A consensus action agenda for achieving the National Health Information Infrastructure. Journal American Informatics Association, 11 (4). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/57bb/c22ad086f88af0cfe1c98bc66ef7a61c8ae6.pdf.
