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Breached vs Uncompromised Data AHCO Healthcare – Case 16: The Admitting System Crashes The University of Arizona Global Campus MHA616: Health Care Management Information Systems Breached vs Uncompromised Data AHCO Healthcare – Case 16: The Admitting System Crashes Healthcare is constantly evolving, and its changes include an outcome oriented system of payment reimbursements, a patient centered approach, and higher quality expectations from healthcare organizations. Information systems need to respond to these changes to achieve the maximum value gained through their use. Implementing a successful health information system is a complex process that involves the work of a multidisciplinary team of experts from both healthcare and informatics fields. Throughout this paper, we will analyze the role of the key health information systems’ leaders and stakeholders in the implementation of the health information systems as well as the impact of the proposed quality improvement project. The integration and development of Information Technology (IT) in healthcare remains slow and inefficient compared to other industries (Rudin et al., 2016, September 1). One of the major barriers discussed by Rudin et al. is “the disconnect between health IT developers and users” (2016, September 1). On one hand, health IT developers may lack healthcare experience and not understand which changes are needed by the system most. On the other hand, users might not be able to transcribe their ideas into functional software or even understand how IT works. To mitigate this barrier a multidisciplinary team involving experts from both fields is needed. AHCO takes use of both its own IT department and outsourced IT support for Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Due to a large size of the organization several IT senior leaders are involved in the work of the system. These include the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief
Technology Officer (CTO), and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). With introduction of the new quality improvement project all three will be actively involved. The CIO of AHCO will be a liaison between the IT department and healthcare leadership. She will assist in presenting the project, aligning it with the mission and vision of AHCO organization, explaining the need for the change, outlining the course of the project, updating the team with successes and barriers to implementation (Wager et al., 2017). Her role will be complemented by the work of a project manager who will oversee the implementation of the project and deliver important updates to the team. The CIO will be working closely with the Chief Financial Officer when making important purchase decisions related to the additional network line, backup data platform, as well as additional labor need. The CTO will assist in planning and design of any upgrades needed to implement the project and will assure a smooth transition to the backup system when a downtime occurs. The CISO is responsible for technical and administrative procedures that provide information security (Wager et al., 2017). During planning phase of the project, the CISO will review the offered recovery process making necessary adjustments. Major changes in information system affect the entire organization and involve technology, healthcare personnel, patients, and entire workflow (Wager et al., 2017). Other members of the multidisciplinary team that will participate in the quality improvement project are hospital leadership and end users. Hospital leadership is presented by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). End users include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory staff, bed management, and administration. To achieve consensus from multiple users, AHCO will create a committee represented by members of each department that will participate in the important decision making as well as bring information back to all users. The Committee will play advisory and decision support roles, as well as assist in project implementation through communication with corresponding
The value gained through the implementation of the quality improvement project is significant, and both tangible and intangible (Wager et al., 2017). System downtime proved to be costly and dangerous to patient care as well as frustrating to the staff. System failures for large organizations like AHCO can cost millions of dollars per second (Collier, 2014). Inaccuracies in data entered manually and delays can cause medical errors that can lead to additional losses due to lawsuits and remediation. Despite high cost of EHR support and maintenance, as well as additional network line, AHCO will recognize that this investment is well justified due to preventable high-cost losses. One unplanned outage could potentially cost several times more than a decade of maintenance. Some more difficult to measure reductions in cost will include less overtime hours that could be caused by the conversion to a manual data entry and more patients served due to uninterrupted service of the EHR. Other interventions, like staff training during planned downtime drills is a relatively inexpensive and justified cost. The Impact of Quality Improvement The impact of this quality improvement project is immense. It will lead to fewer errors, fast and efficient communication, quick access to data, increased patient and provider satisfaction, better collaboration between IT and healthcare team, higher reliability of computer systems, etc. (Wager et al., 2017). The main goal of this project is to improve quality and safety of care by preventing undesired interruptions in system workflow and provide uncompromised data. Some additional benefits will include closer relationship and understanding of mutual roles and responsibilities between IT, healthcare senior leadership, and all staff. It will also increase staff confidence and readiness to function during a stressful outage episode. AHCO is a successful organization that values its high quality, reliable, and uncompromised information system. As with any enterprise-wide data changes AHCO foresees
certain limitations to be addressed and opportunities to be used. To preserve the smooth work of its EHR and prevent or predict unplanned downtimes AHCO will employ a multidisciplinary team of IT, healthcare leadership, and a committee represented by end users. Senior leaders will work closely with their staff ensuring effective project implementation and evaluation. This collaborative effort of the team will have a significant economical and quality improvement impacts on the organization. References Collier, R. (2014). Electronic medical records: Preparing for the inevitable crash. Canadian Medical Association. Journal, 186(7), 493. Retrieved from https://search-proquest- com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/1522777720?accountid= Harden, B. (2016). The five ways modern data governance helps business productivity. Database Trends & Applications, 30(5), 24. Retrieved from http://www.dbta.com/ Kreps, G. L. (2014). Achieving the promise of digital health information systems (Links to an external site.). Journal of Public Health Research, 3(3), 128-129. https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2014. Rudin, R. S., Bates, D. W., & MacRae, C. (2016). Accelerating innovation in Health IT. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(9), 815-817. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Health care information systems: A practical approach for health care management (4th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com
