how people obtain, manipulate, use, share, and dispose of information. This chapter deals with the information piece of this complex puzzle.
Information Suppose someone states the number 99.5. What does that mean? It could be a radio station or a score on a test. Now suppose someone says that Ms. Howsunny’s tem perature is 99.5°F—what does that convey? It is then known that 99.5 is a person’s temperature. The data (99.5) were processed to the information that 99.5° is a spe cific person’s temperature. Data are raw facts. Information is processed data that has meaning. Healthcare professionals constantly process data and information to pro vide the best possible care for their patients.
Many types of data exist, such as alphabetic, numeric, audio, image, and video data. Alphabetic data refer to letters, numeric data refer to numbers, and alphanumeric data combine both letters and numbers. This includes all text and the numeric outputs of digital monitors. Some of the alphanumeric data encountered by healthcare profes sionals are in the form of patients’ names, identification numbers, or medical record numbers. Audio data refer to sounds, noises, or tones—for example, monitor alerts or alarms, taped or recorded messages, and other sounds. Image data include graphics and pictures, such as graphic monitor displays or recorded electrocardiograms, radio graphs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outputs, and computed tomography (CT) scans. Video data refer to animations, moving pictures, or moving graphics. Using