Essay on C156 Advanced Information Management

Healthcare systems are highly complex, fragmented, and use multiple information technology systems and vendors who incorporate different standards resulting in inefficiency, waste, and medical errors (Healthinformatics, 2016). A patient 's medical information often gets trapped in silos, which prevents information from being shared with members of the healthcare community (Healthinformatics, 2016). With increasing healthcare costs, a system needed to be created that would lead to the development and nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information technology system to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Introducing the National Health Information Network (NHIN), this organization can be defined as a set of

Our one hundred bed hospital is in need of updating from paper charting to computerized health records. In doing this, we will meet our goal of compliance with meaningful use legislation. We assembled a team of members to assist with this task and together we have narrowed the search to two health care systems. Those two systems are EPIC and Meditech and we will now discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each, with a final recommendation for our new healthcare system.

Grand Hospital was an early proponent of incorporating a health care information system (HIS) at its facility. Computerized clinical data may be stored in aging systems used in proprietary formats which may be difficult for other systems to access. The use of proprietary programs may lock customers into using only specific information systems. Grand Hospital’s HIS is a proprietary system that may not to be able to interact with other programs.

To start, structured data capture (SDC) initiatives should be utilized in order to leverage existing EHR interoperability standards. SDC seeks to identify how interoperability technology can be used to access a template containing common data elements, populate the template with the correct common data elements from existing EHR data, and then store the template or transmit it elsewhere. Using this framework will give healthcare professionals a standard way to collect data and populate the templates, thus creating a way to access, display, and store the data. It is also important for hospitals to ensure that they are working to meet meaningful use requirements, which will help the organization to be more prepared and educated about interoperability and related issues. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology states that the ultimate goal is to have an interoperability system in place by 2024, one that puts “the person at the center of [the] system that can continuously improve care, public health and science through real-time data access.” In order for the goal to be achieved, however, specific actions need to be taken. It is not enough to simply state what needs to be done, but rather it is the combination of the talk and actions that will make the end-goal

It has only been within the last five years that health information management (HIM) has experienced exponential changes, due to the healthcare reform. The electronic health record (EHR) is connected to health information exchanges and other systems of interoperability. The timely completion of charts, coding and release of information (ROI) has become much more efficient with the electronic record. Traditional HIM functions will just be transformed and will always be an integral part of successful patient care. Professionals must be flexible and willing to adapt and even generate change. As Health Information Technology continues to evolve, so will the roles

In 2013, the HIMSS Board of Directors defined interoperability in health care as having the ability to have different information technology systems and software applications communicate, exchange date, and then use the information that has been exchanged (HIMSS, 2015). Data exchange permits data accessibility between organizational boundaries, while interoperability means health systems have the ability to work together in order to advance the health status of the individuals and communities the system serves. For two systems to be interoperable, they must be able to exchange data that can be understood by a user (HIMSS, 2015). This is extremely important to the goals of HITECH and meaningful use because it aligns with the government standard

Electronic health information exchange is a dynamic evolving landscape that can help all doctors, pharmacists, nurses and any health care providers and patients to properly access fast to share patient basic health medical information via electronically improving quality, safety and speed and the cost of patient care HIE is fault finding for successful health care reform allowing to happen interoperability and significant use of health IT, and Health care Information and Management System Society (HIMSS) is here to help health care and health IT is qualified to understand all of the latest developments. There are various types of health information exchange and health information exchange organizations that are currently across the United States and its nation.

Containing ninety participants, 36% of the respondents were hospital CIOs and I.T. executives, 19% from integrated delivery systems headquarters, 19% from group practices, and 27% from other facilities. Survey results pertained to patient health records, electronic health record (EHR) certification, and other IT issues in healthcare. According to the survey, “81% of respondents said their I.T. budgets will grow, with the most common prediction being growth of 5% to 10%. Implementing electronic health records was the No. 1 software investment priority for the coming year for hospitals, integrated delivery systems and group practices alike.” (CIOs Predict Future Trends, n.d) Interestingly, despite the economy at the time showing signs of a recession, “the vast majority of health care organizations expect their information technology budgets to grow during the next fiscal year, and this growth is driven primarily by a need to improve access to information for clinicians, the survey shows.” (CIOs Predict Future Trends, n.d) This improved access to information can be applied to patients as well, as the push towards cloud storage and record/test results access alleviates the need to wait, call, and require record searches from the physician’s staff. On the subject of streamlining access to the implementation to patient EHRs, 19% of

Pharmacist dispenses medications based on doctors order along with discussing medication usage and contraindication. Nurse pharmacist collaboration occurs to improve medication safety in a timely manner. Physical therapists help patients improve movement along with managing pain. Collaboration occurs when documents are needed for the therapist that will be helpful in providing treatment and to decide what treatment will be best for the patient during this time to improve movement and pain. Physicians perform history and physical to determine a diagnosis and come up with a treatment plan for the condition. Radiologist technologist work with diagnostic imaging to help determine the cause of the patient’s illness. Nurses collaborate with radiologist technologist to review results and see what caused the condition to occur and the best way of treating it. Respiratory therapist work with patients who have trouble breathing so collaboration occurs to assess the breathing to see whether it is being treated or if the plan of care needs to be changed to prevent the breathing problems from getting

Implementation of Healthcare Information Technology potentially reduces cost yet, remains a continuous challenge. The adoption of improved healthcare infrastructure is compelling and significant barriers remain such as technical issues, cost, concerns about privacy and confidentiality, system interoperability and lack of well trained staff to lead the process (Palvia, Love, Nemati, & Jacks, 2012).

In health care, patients’ lives are in the hands of the health care practitioners, health care organizations, insurance companies, and to some degree, even health care technology. The growth and future implications of evidence-based medicine (EBM) through improvement of technology in health care are important today, because health care practitioners and organizations want to ultimately decrease cost, improve quality of care, and increase access to health care (Glandon, Smaltz, & Slovensky, 2014, p. 28). One way to achieve these goals is through the implementation and improvement of EBM and interoperability which will enhance the efficiency of work production resulting in these positive outcomes. According to Glandon, Smaltz, and Slovensky (2014), EBM is an “information management and learning strategy that seeks to integrate clinical expertise with the best evidence available to make effective clinical decisions that will ultimately improve patient care,” (p. 6). “Interoperability is the ability of different information and communications technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use information that has been exchanged,” (Iroju, Soriyan, Gambo, & Olaleke, 2013, para. 1). Without interoperability and EBM, fundamental data and information such as patient records cannot be easily shared across and within enterprises having a direct impact on the quality of care. It

As the implementation of electronic health records (EHR) progress nationwide, the concepts of interoperability and health information exchange (HIE) must be discussed. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (2005, p. 2) define interoperability as “the ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities.” Interoperability is the enabling of two systems, including those that do not share

In defining the selection and acquisition framework for the healthcare information system under consideration, the creation of an Information technologies (IT) strategic plan is first needed. By definition, an IT strategic plan defines in very specific terms how a proposed IT system will align with and contribute to the strategic plans, objectives and goals of a healthcare organization (Davis, Adams, 2007). The process of selecting and acquiring the healthcare information system under development needs to take into account change management, process-based, systems-integration and lifetime cost of ownership considerations. In addition to these factors, a balanced scorecard of system performance and its contribution to each department in the organization also needs to be assessed (Chow, Ganulin, Haddad, Williamson, 1998). Healthcare system planning and evaluation has progressed beyond the basics of defining functional performance aspects of software towards the inclusion and encompassing of how roles in a healthcare enterprise can be made more efficient from their use (Spil, LeRouge, Trimmer, Wiggins, 2011). The process of selecting and acquiring the information system then must be designed to take into account stakeholder's needs while also delivering financially significant value to the enterprise over time (Davis, Adams, 2007). The intent of this analysis is to define how the

The Informatics Nurse Specialist will provide clinical expertise in relation to advanced technology for Nursing / Clinical Services. This includes assessment and evaluation, education of new technology and software programs. The Informatics Nurse Specialist will also serve as a liaison for satellite facilities to assist with any questions and concerns in regards to clinical and nursing services.

Health information systems (HIS) are complex and it is helpful to understand advantages and disadvantages to some key components of a HIS. This section will describe the advantages and disadvantages of usability, interoperability, scalability and compatibility.