Case Analysis : Systems Acquisition

However, health informatics is the kind of application system normally used by most hospitals and clinics to deliver high quality and cost efficient healthcare service to the community. According to Bacon County Hospital press release (2002), the informatics system was implemented to make the delivery of medical services such as surgical treatment and other general treatment faster. In this paper, therefore we look into how the informatics systems/applications has evolved since it was implemented by the Bacon County Hospital; discuss the future trends for healthcare informatics and how these trends impact the healthcare delivery system.

Latour, Kathleen and Eichenwald-Maki, eds. (2009). HI300: Information Technology & Systems for Healthcare. Chicago: American Health Information Management Association

Over the past few years, we have notice a significant change in the workflow of a healthcare organization. This change is caused by the technological advancements of Health Information Technology (HIT). One of the many technological advancements of HIT is the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Electronic health records are a patient’s paper chart in a digital format. It always contains real time information and can be easily accessible. With EHR put into act, it has the ability to electronically view and share a patient’s medical history, past and current medications, immunization dates, any diagnoses or allergies, as well as testing and lab reports. It is also used to document and store data, in addition with many more abilities. It is important to understand the purpose, application, challenges, and advantages of an electronic heath record. In order to get a greater understanding of its use, we will use a private family medicine practice as the foundation for implementing the EHR.

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

Athenahealth is an organization which understands that in today’s health care market, organizations can become overwhelmed with overly wasteful and disorganized administrative systems. Athenahealth is aware that these outdated systems can sometimes impede quality of care. However, their organization strives, as a single entity, to address these concerns by becoming the nation 's premier health care systems provider and empowering patients to be as actively involved in their care as they want to be. Their open technology platforms readily support improvement by providing consistent innovation and encouraging others to become a part of their mission. Their company is tirelessly developing new tools and services for the benefit of everyone involved with the health care field.1

The health care sector is impacted by numerous changes and challenges, such as increasing need for health care provision, changing demands from patients or rapidly evolving technologies. In the context of evolving technologies, the developments occur not only in the actual provision of the medical act, but also at the level of the complementary operations, such as health care information management.

The AHRQ organization has several portfolios’ that are funded and supports research projects. Such portfolios are information technology, health patient safety, prevention and care management, and value portfolios. Within these portfolio’s, grants are there to fund new projects that relate to each category. Within each portfolio, research has been started and effectiveness of these projects is underway. Some clinical research projects are a set of priority conditions of importance to the Medicaid, Medicare, and SCHIP programs. Projected initiatives are to improve quality of care. The Value portfolio finds ways to reduce unnecessary cost and waste while maintaining or improving quality without adding cost which is a critical, national need (2012, p.5).

Healthcare information technology forms a pivotal part of today 's healthcare system. Improved quality of healthcare, patient safety, drastic reduction in medical errors and enhancement of care delivery is possible because of the induction of these solutions in the healthcare delivery environment. Today, healthcare IT solutions are enabling processes like planning, decision-making related to organizational development, strategic planning to drive growth, recruitment of competent personnel, managing employee benefits, payroll, intra-department communication, etc.

Objectives: Analyze current literature pertaining to the status and benefits of implementing the AHRQ goals into the healthcare systems to determine any correlation that have and would further benefit the federal healthcare sector.

It is important to understand the history of how the healthcare industry decided to embrace the use of computer databases. Typically healthcare was often the last to employ new technology; especially when it came to assembling and disseminating data. As a Director of HIM (Health Information Management) it would be beneficial to remember this as there will undoubtedly be some resistance when attempting to implement new and improved systems to track everything from patient outcomes and laboratory tests to prescriptions and medications.

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

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).

The health IT system is essential to transform the delivery of health care. Innovation within the IT system includes efficient data use through warehouses as they expand health information, which allows for big improvements in the technological use. These improvements would ensure that data user safety will allow the smooth exchange of information transfer electronically between different health care providers. In this case, most hospital employees and health care organizations understand how the health information technology (IT) is important for the HCO’s functions. The passing of “the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) legislation in 2009, with its specific attention to advancing EHRs, federal dollars are dedicated to expanding EHR use in physician offices and more” (Abdelhak pg. 180). This shows that a federal government has an ability to change in the healthcare industry, so the government should incorporate science and technology development. The private sector and government funding resources will also have a significant impact to play a great role in the exploration of new software operations in terms of advancing the technological environment. Advancing this area of the organization encourages health Information

Technology has had a role in healthcare for some time, but only recently has it matured to a point where it can support operational, business and clinical functions of healthcare organizations. In the past, many hospitals used technology for specialized departments and unique roles, but the concept of a complete electronic health record system did not exist until the early 2000’s. The American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology (IT) Supplement to the AHA Annual Survey stated that in 2008 only 9.4% of hospitals had a basic electronic health record (EHR) system (HealthIT EHR, 2014). They defined a basic EHR as having electronic clinical information that includes results and the ability to enter and view clinical notes. Without the ability for healthcare organizations to capture clinical information electronically, an online patient engagement solution cannot

Roles of regulatory agencies that influence health care are ensuring the delivery of safe care and that high quality health care is being provided to patients and clients. There are several organizations that monitor healthcare providers and others that set the standards for quality healthcare, including: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), American Health Quality Association, The Joint Commission, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and others. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) produces annually the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR). This report is built on a set of health care quality standards or measures – effectiveness of care, patient safely, timeliness, and patient centeredness (Knudson, Gibbens & Fischbach, 2014). The role of these agencies are important to the people that are receiving the care. The roles ensure that patients are receiving the effective care they deserve in a safe, timely manner.