HIM 440 Milestone One complete (1)

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Southern New Hampshire University *

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440

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Health Science

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 Milestone One: Initiation and Preparation Kristina Narragon Southern New Hampshire University HIM-440: Management of Health Information Services Dr. Lisa L Campbell September 17, 2023

2 Initiation and Preparation Integrating multiple healthcare sites into one brand is a challenging task for any merger. The success that St. Catherine’s Medical Center, St. Lukes’s Hospital, and Hickman Community Hospital would like to achieve when merging into Gateway Healthcare Systems is hindered by multiple issues. These problems will need to be rectified to have a successful merger that will benefit the communities being served. Each facility brings value to the merger and by setting goals and implementing a plan, Gateway Healthcare Systems will successfully unite into one brand. Summary There are multiple issues that need to be addressed before the merger and the health information management department can be considered successful. These issues include cultural insensitivity, workplace conflict, non-compliance issues, implementing, updating, and/or training on the technology used in the HIM department. Extensive education will be crucial to solving many of the issues that plague this department. There should be extensive training for management staff to help promote a stronger management team. This will have a big and positive impact on the future of the unified HIM department because management is the foundation of the organization and “You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation” (Hinckley, 2017). Compliance One of the more pressing problems that the Gateway Healthcare System is facing is the number of non-compliance issues and disregard for confidentiality and patient information protection that was observed during a visit to the hospitals while reviewing the policies and procedures and getting to know staff. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of

3 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule has set standards that protect personal health information and can impose civil and criminal penalties for not following these mandates (CDC, 2022) and there were several incidences of HIPAA violations at all three health care facilities, including improperly managing and disposing of PHI in regular trash, ignoring safeguards such as not logging off of the computer when away from the desk, and disregard for patient confidentiality in public areas. Non-compliance issues need to be addressed immediately as they pose a bigger issue for the organization including possible financial loss from fines and lost revenue, risk of security breaches, poor patient care, damaged reputation. Ensuring that all policies and procedures are up to date and complete will be important, including updated coding quality and productivity standards, as well as consistent employee training pertaining to the policies and procedures and HIPAA and management training to promote a stronger management team who oversees and enforces this. Cultural Diversity Programs for promoting diversity within the staff and patients should be implemented, as well as mandatory attendance for cultural diversity training. Coordinating with the organization’s Human Resource department will be beneficial to help cultivate an inclusive environment. Age diversity is another issue that is impacting quality and productivity. There are several seasoned staff members who bring different skills and experience to the HIM department which can be a strength but also a weakness because they seem to be set in the “way we’ve always done it” mentality and have been resistant to new technology. For instance, the seasoned coders at St. Catherine’s were resistant to using the encoder which would help to increase efficiency and productivity. There is also internal conflict between seasoned, more experienced employees and newer more credentialed staff. This will be addressed by training and promoting education to

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