Project Assignment
Overview
Practitioners in health information management and healthcare informatics are expected to be keenly aware of new and upcoming technologies that might benefit their organization. This becomes more complex as these individuals must also consider the impact that those technologies might have on the practice of medicine at their institution. When faced with new technologies, leaders in health information management must evaluate the state of the organization and make an informed decision that will affect the organization as a whole. This means addressing not just the needs of the health information management team, but the needs of all roles within the institution, while also addressing any issues of compliance the organization might be facing.
For your project in this course, you will imagine you have been hired as a contractor for a small medical facility to consult on the selection of a new technology. Their organization has been struggling, so you must first speak to the state of the organization and then offer an informed recommendation as to which of the technologies would suit the organization best. The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five and Seven. The product will be submitted in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Determine standard technology systems and their uses in modern healthcare institutions through analysis of current and historical technology use in health information management and healthcare informatics
• Analyze the interrelationship between various professional roles within healthcare institutions and their use of technology systems for informing recommendations regarding health information technology systems
• Determine the potential impact of violating health regulations and laws regarding health information technology systems on healthcare organizations
• Develop health information technology recommendations for healthcare institutions that are compliant with health regulations and laws and ensure ethical management of health information
• Determine effective investment of resources in health information technology for healthcare institutions based on the needs of the healthcare institution
Prompt
Imagine you have been contracted to consult on the recent developments at the Featherfall Medical Center. Featherfall has been struggling of late; it has had a series of problems that have prompted your hiring. It has faced the following issues:
1. Featherfall has recently violated several government regulations regarding the current state of its technology and how it is being used. The technology system is vastly out of date, and staff are not always using the technology that is in place or they are using the technology inappropriately. These problems have lost the institution lots of money for not meeting government regulations and have caused operational and ethical problems from inefficient and ineffective use of technology.
2. The staff at Featherfall are not well-trained on the use of technology and do not communicate appropriately about technology use. The roles that pertinent to your consult are the health information management team, the clinical staff (doctors, nurses, etc.), and administrative staff. The health information management team uses proper coding practices, and the current technology system serves them well, despite its age. However, other roles in the hospital have had issues with the system. Clinical staff, for instance, have had record-keeping issues both due to lack of training on the system and the system itself being out of date. Administrative staff within the organization have taken issue with the lack of communication about the technology and its use between the various roles. When the current technology system was chosen many years ago, the needs of these various roles were not considered.
You will begin by preparing for your consultation. You will analyze the history of the field as well as determine standard guidelines for technology use and standard technologies used in the field. You will also prepare information for Featherfall regarding the ramifications for violating health laws and regulations. Finally, you will use this information to review technology options that could be implemented at the institution.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Preparation for Consult: In this section of your project, you will prepare for your consultation on the organization's technology choice. To prepare, you will analyze the field of health information management for determining standard technologies and guidelines related to technology use in order to inform your technology selection.
A. Analyze key historical events in the field of health informatics for how technology has been used that could inform the management of health information. Be sure to support your response with appropriate examples.
B. Determine guidelines for technology use in the field of health information management that Featherfall could implement. Be sure to support your response with research.
C. Determine the standard technologies currently used in the field of health information management. Be sure to support your response with research. For example, what record-keeping technologies are typically used in the field?
D. Develop an overview of how the pertinent roles described at Featherfall would interact with technology.
E. Describe the process you would use to evaluate new health information technology systems. Be sure that your process will evaluate new systems based on how they meet the needs of the organization and how they are compliant with health regulations and laws.
II. Health Regulations and Laws Ramifications: In this section of your project, you will finish your preparation by reviewing and explaining the ramifications for the organization if it decides to wait on addressing its recent violations regarding technology use.
A. Determine how violating health regulations and laws regarding technology could impact the finances of the institution if these violations are not addressed. Be sure to support your response with examples.
B. Determine how violating health regulations and laws regarding technology could impact the daily operations of the institution if these violations are not addressed. Be sure to support your response with examples.
C. Determine how violating health regulations and laws regarding technology could impact the security of the health information in the institution if these violations are not addressed. Be sure to support your response with examples.
III. Technology System Recommendations: In this section of your project, you will review the provided technology options and make informed recommendations to the organization regarding which technology it should choose.
A. Determine the needs of the various roles of the organization in a new technology.
B. Recommend a new health information technology system that meets the following criteria. Be sure to justify how your recommendations meet the criteria. The new health technology must:
1. Abide by provided health regulations and laws
2. Align with the needs of all staff members of the previously described organization
3. Ensure the ethical management and use of health information
C. Determine how the organization could more effectively invest its financial resources into the recommended technology system. Be sure to justify your response.
D. Determine how the organization could monitor the use of the new health information system. Be sure to justify your response.
E. Determine how the organization could effectively invest its time into the implementation of the new health information technology system. Be sure to justify your response.
Milestones
Milestone One: Analyzing the Landscape/Setting the Scene
In Module Three, you will submit a discussion of the history of healthcare information management/informatics and the current landscape in terms of technology. This milestone will set the stage for your project.
Milestone Two: Moving Toward Compliance
In Module Five, you will submit an analysis of how the company in the case study is noncompliant and the strategies (general, not specifics) to move them toward compliance.
Milestone Three: Recommendations
In Module Seven, you will submit your recommendations for technology for the institution and how it will be implemented.
Submission: Health Information Technology Recommendations
In Module Nine, you will submit your project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.