? MAIN DETAILS: Imagine you have been contracted to consult on the recent developments at the Featherfall MedicalCenter. 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 The technology system is vastly out of date, and staff are not always using the technology that is in place or they are using the technology inappropriately.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 communicateappropriately about technology use. The roles that pertinent to your consult are the healthinformation 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for instance, have had record- keeping issues both due to lack of training on the system and the system itself being out of date.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 thecurrent technology system was chosen many years ago, the needs of these various roles were not considered.
? ATTACHED:-instructions and previous milestones.
The organization should choose Intel’s SOA Expressway for healthcare technology due to
their promise to deliver all topics by their next release, except for “automatic verification of
insurance,” which is not available. Intel has an advantage over Alert, which promises to deliver
all topics except for the SQL/Oracle database. Intel’s slow response time is not alarming, as the
healthcare organization’s administrative processes could sometimes delay. Agreeing to contract
arrangements like periodic maintenance and system assessment could address minor issues and
reduce response time, focusing on serious complaints.
Intel has stated that the next release for their system will be in 8 months, which will meet
the HIPAA requirements, which is not so far from Alert’s 6 months. It is, however, important to
wait for the next release before implementing the system so it does not violate the HIPAA
requirements. The 8-month period can be used for planning, preparation, and other
administrative duties regarding the system’s implementation.
Intel’s SQL/Oracle database feature is a crucial aspect of software that enhances the user
experience (Ilić et al., 2021). This feature is exclusive to Intel, allowing for greater acceptance
and adaptation to the new system. Intel offers 364 systems in use over Alerts 12, catering to
various operating areas like pharmacy, accounts, laboratory, imaging, and female wards. Other
features include allowing housekeeping to notify admission, generating patient lists, maintaining
medical record numbers, and offering an online no-bed list. These features are designed to meet
the needs of both old and new staff.
Currently, both systems have “standardizes, secures, and governs access to master patient
records”, “standardizes, secures, and governs access to master provider indices”, “standardizes,
secures, and governs access to document exchanges”, “authentication and authorization”,
“management and monitoring”, and “transport layer security” features. These features will ensure
the ethical management and use of health information.
Intel’s total operational cost is $2,028,000, while Alert’s is $1,587,000. However, Intel
offers 364 hospital systems, ensuring it can support future units for longer periods. With 30 years
of experience and trustworthiness, Intel guarantees support and maintenance from its original
suppliers. The hospital is guaranteed support and maintenance for years to come. Intel is a valuefor-money choice, but it is recommended that the organization consult other technology experts
to ensure seamless integration with existing infrastructure.
To monitor the new health information system’s usage, the organization needs to utilize
the “management and monitoring” feature to track defined activities such as the number of
logins, frequency of use, and even specific areas being used. It is also important to make room
for feedback from users through surveys, focus group discussions, or periodic gap analysis. By
doing so, management will better understand the challenges and appreciate the benefits of the
system.
To ensure successful implementation, organizations should draft a detailed plan and
organize stakeholder meetings to improve user buy-in and reduce change resistance. Customize
the new system to fit each unit, migrate old data, and maintain work flow. A phased training
schedule allows for comprehensive staff training and unit-by-unit testing, minimizing disruptions
and resistance. Prompt feedback on system performance should be provided at every session.
Supportive training should be provided for at least two months while staff acclimate to the new
system. This approach will help Intel tailor the system to each unit, minimize disruptions, and
provide timely feedback. By following these steps, organizations can ensure a smooth transition
and maintain a smooth work environment (Sligo et al., 2017).
References
Ilić, M., Kopanja, L., Zlatković, D., Trajković, M., & Ćurguz, D. (2021, June). Microsoft sql
server and oracle: Comparative performance analysis. In The 7th International conference
Knowledge management and informatics (pp. 33-40).
Sligo, J., Gauld, R., Roberts, V., & Villa, L. (2017). A literature review for large-scale health
information system project planning, implementation and evaluation. International journal of
medical informatics, 97, 86-97.
The world has progressed, owing mostly to advances in technology, which has been adopted
in every area of the globe, including the health sector. Health and technology have interacted
crucially, resulting in innovative healthcare treatments and increased general well-being. This
convergence of technology in the health industry has resulted in improved diagnoses,
individualized treatment regimens, and better patient outcomes. As a result, coinciding with
the immediate aims of modern health information systems, namely accessibility, efficiency,
and assuring greater treatment quality. However, with the use of technology, regulators, laws,
and fines have been established to guarantee that patrons are not compromised. Misuse of
technology or a failure to ensure security can cause problems in many areas of medical
facilities, including money, everyday operations, and security.
Finances
Health institutions that breach health regulations or legislation pertaining to technology suffer
serious consequences. This is especially noticeable in terms of the financial ramifications for
medical institutions. Regulatory groups and government agencies impose legal penalties and
fines on medical facilities. This can happen, for example, if sensitive information is stolen.
Consider the United States’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
which tries to manage the security and privacy of patient data (Health and Human Services,
2021). Depending on the severity of the infractions, medical facilities face varied penalties.
As a result, the higher the fine, the greater the drain on the health institution’s financial
resources. HIPAA is only one example of a rule; comparable versions are in place all around
the world to accommodate diverse conditions.
The HIPAA regulations have substantial ramifications for healthcare business partners since
they are legally required to follow these standards. As a result, medical institutions must
guarantee that these third-party suppliers follow the requirements, or they will be obliged to
pay the price. Furthermore, if infractions are discovered, both medical institutions and third-
party suppliers will be obliged to accept fines from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Consider Cottage Health in California, whose partner disabled security safeguards, exposing
32,500 patients’ details on Google (Hicks, 2014). This issue would propagate to patients the
absence of security within the medical facility, resulting in mistrust. This distrust is reflected
in the decline of stocks and revenue. As a result, Cottage Health lost financial income and had
to pay a three-million-dollar settlement to resolve any breaches linked to the breach (U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services, 2019).
As previously indicated, revenues and stock prices fall as a result of patients’ and medical
institutions’ stakeholders’ distrust. This shortage of trust may be reflected in lower patient
admissions, worse patient retention rates, and, eventually, lower income. As a result, if
patients detect a lack of dedication to their safety and security, they might decide to look for
care elsewhere. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), these
breaches in healthcare organizations were linked to a considerable decrease in patient
engagement (Mello et al. 2020). This decrease in revenue has a cascading impact on medical
facilities, who no longer have the funds to upgrade technology security or performance. Aside
from that, medical institutions are handicapped since they no longer have the means to
improve and are either left behind or compelled to employ less expensive solutions which
may result in regression. As a result, the medical institution can no longer reliably meet the
interim targets of health information systems.
Daily Operations
Violations by medical institutions can impede not only their financial operations, but also
their basic functioning. The administrative departments of medical institutions face an
overabundance of work as a result of incidents such as data breaches. As a result, all
functional groups, including clinical personnel and the health information management team,
may suffer setbacks. The administration is in responsible of assigning resources for the
investigation and resolution of data breaches or violations. Efficiency is severely hampered
since they are not permitted to retain proper attention on their key tasks.
Medical institutions will have to deal with legal disputes with authorities as a result of
revealed breaches and infractions. Medical institutions would be compelled to divert their
focus to legal fights, which are critical to ensuring that they can reduce the financial burden
imposed by fines and penalties. Breach or violation effectively impose an unanticipated
impediment to the figurative service that medical facilities are expected to provide. With the
prevalence of breaches, medical institutions must also identify strategies to reduce the
occurrence of such instances in the future. This in and of itself is costly, not to mention time
demanding. Medical institutions may endeavour to retrain employees, introduce new
technology, or establish tougher data protection measures, all while fighting legal fights and
paying penalties and legal bills.
In 2014, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), a major healthcare provider in
Pennsylvania, suffered a data breach that compromised the personal information of roughly
62,000 workers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2014). The incident involves the theft of personal
tax returns from employees, which resulted in bogus tax returns being submitted on their
behalf. As a result, the organization was obliged to rectify the breach, which required a major
investment of time, effort, and money. Due to the gravity of the violation, it would have
generated legal and regulatory duties that demand quick response. UPMC was required to
follow state and federal rules for data breach notification, ensuring that impacted persons
were notified about the breach and the possible dangers associated with the type of
confidential data stolen by the hackers. Employee morale and confidence would have
suffered as a result of the incident, as they would have been concerned that UPMC would fail
to protect their personal information. Within intensive medical organizations, culture is
critical to functionality; if this is entirely undermined, productivity and efficiency suffer.
Security
The disruption of medical institutions’ finances and everyday operations due to technology
violations or breaches is a source of concern for the organization. However, the issue of
security is where these difficulties may be avoided or exacerbated. The major problem that
arises when security measures are not followed is a loss of patient privacy. These breaches
make sensitive health information available to unauthorized people or cyber thieves. The
consequences of this issue are felt not just by institutions, but also by people. The typical
expense of a healthcare data breach is expected to be roughly 7.13 million dollars per
occurrence, according to a Ponemon Institute (2021) research. This does not include the
funds needed to upgrade security. Fines and penalties can disrupt operations in a variety of
industries for medical companies. Its finances are directly related to its capacity to conduct
everyday activities and provide security. With insufficient security, breaches occur, affecting
finances, which in turn impact essential operations, which are then suspended to address the
issue.
The occurrence of these breaches has an indirect influence on the security of patients and the
quality of care. Cyber assaults can interrupt health-care services, making it difficult for
medical professionals to obtain patient information quickly. As a result, diagnoses are
delayed, unsuitable treatments are administered, and pharmaceutical mistakes occur; there is
no short list of consequences that can occur. Studies on hospital activities related with a
breach found greater risks of hospital readmissions and worse patient outcomes (Stevens,
Peeples, & Li, 2020). Medical facilities face the danger of future assaults if laws are not
adhered to. To obtain illegal access, hackers would frequently attack weaker security
mechanisms and obsolete systems. However, the most difficult issue for medical institutions
is the loss of research and intellectual property. If security measures are inadequate, health
institutions engaged in cutting-edge medical research and development could be vulnerable to
intellectual property theft. Intellectual property theft can range from the loss of critical
research data, techniques, and sensitive knowledge to the institution’s competitive advantage
being jeopardized.
Consider that in 2017, the WannaCry ransomware encrypted data and files on 230 000
machines in 150 countries, impairing the performance of the National Health Service (NHS)
in England (Smart, 2018). The ransomware assault hit a huge number of NHS hospitals and
health institutions, disrupting patient care and causing severe data loss and disruption.
Computer systems were closed and inaccessible throughout NHS hospitals and research
centres, interrupting patient service. Furthermore, relevant scientific data, current projects,
and experimental findings stirred up on impacted systems were at risk of being destroyed
forever (BBC News, 2017). The hack not only hampered everyday operations, but it also
risked compromising vital research data and intellectual property.
References
BBC News. (2017). NHS Cyber-attack: Ransomware Hit 200,000 in More Than 150
Countries. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-39899646
Hicks, A. (2014). On the HIPAA hook. Journal of AHIMA.
https://library.ahima.org/doc?oid=300414
Mello, M. M., Adler-Milstein, J., Ding, K., & Savage, L. (2020). Data Breaches of Health
Information by Type of Breach, United States, 2010-2017. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(2),
317-319.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (2014, May 6). Wounds from cybertheft take long to heal. Phys.org.
https://phys.org/news/2014-05-wounds-cybertheft.html
Ponemon Institute. (2021). 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report
Smart, W. (2018). Lessons learned review of the WannaCry ransomware cyber attack.
Department of Health & Social Care, London. Retrieved from
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/lessons-learned-review-wannacryransomware-cyber-attack-cio-review.pdf
Stevens, P., Peeples, M. M, & Li, S. (2020). Hospital Data Breaches and Risk-Adjusted
Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study. The BMJ
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2019). Cottage Health. Retrieved from
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/complianceenforcement/agreements/cottage/index.html.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2021). HIPAA Enforcement. Retrieved from
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/index.html.
1
New Health Information Technology Systems
Student’s Full Name
Institution Affiliate
Course Full Title
Professor’s Full Name
Due Date
2
New Health Information Technology Systems
Technology is an important resource for a healthcare organization regarding the quality
and efficiency of healthcare services. Unfortunately, Featherfall has been unable to get the best
of services from technology. It is important to provide recommendations for the various
challenges the organization faces.
Key historical events
Technology has been for many years used in the management of health information.
Technology has been successfully applied in diagnosing diseases, prescribing, and treating
diseases. Also, technology has been significantly used in public health for disease surveillance.
During the Second World War, doctors and nurses used various technological tools to diagnose
and treat diseases. Also, in 1959, Drs. Lee Lusted introduced the use of data analysis tools that
were important in diagnosing diseases. Over the years, developments such as medical computing
and computer medicine, among others, have illustrated the success of technology in the medical
field (Carayon & Hoonakker, 2019). These and other examples indicate that when effectively
used in an organization, technology would result in several positive outcomes.
Technology guidelines in healthcare
Several technological guidelines are essential in healthcare and often lead to severe
damage when not followed by healthcare organizations. Firstly is patient data protection. It is
always important to ensure that a healthcare system is hack-proof and that every piece of data is
secured. Ethical issues are a big concern; therefore, failure to affirm the privacy of patients’ data
could raise serious concerns. Featherfall should consider ensuring that the data are secure by
employing security features such as data encryption using cloud security. It is also important to
3
ensure that patient and other necessary data are centrally available so authorized personnel can
easily access them. Upgradability is key in technology. Therefore, Featherfall organizations must
ensure that their systems are up to date and have relevant security features (Kaplan, 2020).
Constant training of employers interacting with technology is important to keep them up to date
and to help them develop skills that will, in turn, improve the organization’s workforce.
Standard technologies
There has been significant technological development in the health sector. First,
Electronic Health Records store patients’ health history in digital form, eliminating physical files.
Electronic health records also necessitate a well-coordinated healthcare provision between
providers because the patient’s information is available in the system. Other developments, such
as telemedicine, have enabled virtual patient and clinician interaction. To a greater extent,
telemedicine has helped eliminate queues previously seen in healthcare centers. An interoperable
healthcare information technology system is designed to ensure that different devices can access
and interchange information (Sapci et al., 2020).
Featherfall has various personnel work to ensure the effective delivery of medical
services to its customers. The personnel includes the health information management team, the
clinical staff, and the administrative staff. The administrative staff is responsible for the
provision of recourses. Therefore the administrations should ensure that they purchase new
systems and other technological requirements with the guidance of the information management
team, which in turn must ensure that the patient’s data are centrally available and can be accessed
by the clinical staff. The clinical staff must provide medical reports in addition to treatment
services so that the information management team can update these reports. The information
4
management team must always ensure that the systems are functional and backups are available
in case of system default.
The evaluation of new health information systems is based on three intermediate goals:
access, efficiency, and quality of care. The new information systems must be centrally accessible
by the relevant authorized personnel (Carayon & Hoonakker, 2019). The system should ensure
efficiency and deliver the best quality care to the patients and the organization.
5
References
Carayon, P., & Hoonakker, P. (2019). Human factors and usability for health information
technology: old and new challenges. Yearbook of medical informatics, 28(01), 071-077.
Kaplan, B. (2020). Revisiting ethical, legal, and social health information technology issues and
evaluation: telehealth/telemedicine and COVID-19. International journal of medical
informatics, p. 143, 104239.
Sapci, A. H., & Sapci, H. A. (2020). A systematic review of artificial intelligence education and
tools for medical and health informatics students. JMIR Medical Education, 6(1), e19285.
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