Question 1: W3: Sentence Outline Research Paper Sentence Outline

Running head: INFORMATION GOVERNANCE OF HEALTHCARE COMPANIES 1

INFORMATION GOVERNANCE OF HEALTHCARE COMPANIES 11

Information Governance of Healthcare Companies

Abstract

Healthcare companies can best address information governance by having in place clearly written documentation which will eventually lead to consistent and effective communication with other healthcare firms. These written forms of documentation include policies and procedures that reflect the healthcare practice from its backbone to the outer functionalities that make the firm accountable in its operations. The written policies and procedures are extremely vital as they provide tangible evidence of healthcare practices that are aligned to the organization's value as well as its mission and vision statement. These policies are regularly reviewed and updated following the current status of the healthcare operations within its system. After a further review of healthcare policy documents, I have realized that a healthcare institution should have a well-structured policy that reflects its information governance to the required staff, patients as well as stakeholders. The policy documents that the health organizations use in drafting its policies are procedures, hierarchy structure, policies and a policy framework. The main purpose of the policy framework is to act as a guide in the development of policies and procedures that will ensure that the written documents are well organized and user-friendly. A healthcare company's organizational framework helps in managing the operations of an organization in a manner that is consistent with the shareholders' best interests and the legislation requirements. This policy is a rule of principles that are used to guide any decision-making activity within a healthcare setting to achieve a specific outcome. The documents that are included in a well-structured policy for health institutions include procedures, charters, manuals, work guides and health forms that define the healthcare processes and operation structure which affect the daily operations of the organization.

Introduction

Proper legislation of healthcare companies is a necessity for the integration of policies and procedures for health firms. Examples of the policies that promote information governance in health institutions include charters, procedures, guidelines, terms of reference and a well-defined policy framework. Information governance is defined in health systems through the use of written documentation such as policies, procedures and a policy framework. A policy framework is a written document that healthcare institutions use to develop a set of organizational procedures and goals which are used for decision making or to guide a more detailed set of policies (Weinberg et al., 2015). These policies eventually enable health care specialists to develop organizational long-term goals and also provide the direction and planning of healthcare activities. A policy will assist an organization to achieve its primary objectives such as decision making but this will be different from its operational perspective (Datskovsky, 2010). This is because the main focus in its operational perspective will be to help in explaining the operational constraints that staff should work within and mitigate ways to reduce these constraints. From the managerial perspective, policies are structured frameworks that enhance active management participation in the decision-making process. It enhances the manager's capabilities of participating in valuable activities that will expand a firm's success rather than being more supervisory. The policy framework is a governing policy that contains a set of rules for a healthcare firm operations and procedures of employees, the board and management. Its rules cover the legal, legislative and regulatory requirements and provide a framework for culture compliance within a healthcare setting. Governance policy examples include the organization's code of conduct, governance charter, conflict of interest policy, risk management policy, IT governance policy, senior executive remuneration policy and stakeholder communication policy. Operational level policies include the following: HR, work arrangements and financial management.

Literature review

Information Governance (IG) in healthcare is defined as the structures, policies, and procedures initiated and adhered by hospital staff, employees and health specialists as well as other medical companies to organize, collect, utilize and secure health data (Siwicki, 2018). Information Governance is not just about using patient and hospital data, but it also involves reducing risks to ensure that information generated is secured and protected as by the federal laws and policy regulations. Health information management professionals have an important role in information governance due to their importance in managing electronic health medical records and the current digital past medical records for all patients. There are also emerging facts on Information governance in health systems and they are the analysis and application of archival data as well as protecting this data from cyber criminals (Warner, 2014). The data lifecycle of Information Governance in the healthcare sector includes the collection of patient information, patient's treatment, medical research, outcomes improvement, and government reporting. The cycle also includes other administrative data such as billing, payment, and insurance claims data. Information Governance is one of the fast-growing sectors in the healthcare sector and its strategies are already evident through improving patient outcomes, provision of the right medication in communities and prevention of the occurrence of ailments within communities. The management and leaders within the healthcare industry should constantly assess the procedures, policies related to information governance to engage stakeholders in the capture, use, and storage of vital healthcare-related information.

Research Method

The findings for this paper has used the document analysis research method where we have retrieved data from publications in Public Medicine, Google Scholar, ProQuest, Scopus and Science Direct databases. The studies have described the application of Information Governance in healthcare and have been published using the right language mode and source of text interpretations. The search terms for this paper included Information Governance, information governance programs and its impact on the healthcare industry. All materials have been fully reviewed in-depth and content has been analyzed which discusses topics on information governance in healthcare. We have also used this data in our discussion groups where we have been able to exchange vital information on Information Governance with other students (Kadlec, 2015). Another study was done through empirical research and observations on the effect of policies on information governance in health centers. The following was observed: After conducting empirical research at selected health centers on the application of health governance in health institutions, findings were obtained that indicated health centers embraced fully Information Governance programs. This is because these programs have created value for most of the health centers which has led to the integration of important information, data quality improvement, increase use in information obtained, safe healthcare data sharing as well as an improvement in the documentation procedures. The findings indicate that programs are essential for better sharing and exchanges of healthcare information in focus groups for the main purpose of managing the population health through proper information analysis, developing an approach to resource management and resolving data integration issues (Warner, 2013). The IG program has been observed to adequately address the acquisition of clinical data, clinical content management, improvement of quality of data and clinical documentation. All these steps require a firm background in healthcare and the implementation of important healthcare principles, standards, and instructions which are all addresses using the Information Governance programs

Results

Applications of the Information Governance program were placed in these categories: Improving the healthcare and patient safety, Reducing the costs, Enhancing the quality of health information, Enhancing the security and confidentiality of health information, Improving the health information management, and Improving the management of healthcare companies. The following table illustrates the information that has been obtained in different categories through the use of empirical research and qualitative data collection techniques:

APPLICATIONS	EXAMPLES
Improving healthcare and patient safety	Improving healthcare, patient outcomes, patient safety, and population health
Reducing costs	Improving the reimbursement procedure, reducing unnecessary data, minimizing information costs and healthcare costs.
Enhancing the quality of healthcare information	Maximizing information value and improving information integrity and quality.
Enhancing the security and confidentiality of healthcare information	Improve on supervision and protection of data, minimize information risks and ensure security and confidentiality of vital information
Improving the management of healthcare organizations	Supporting the business strategy, realize the competitive advantage, increase productivity, improve interaction with patients, activate business intelligence, managing population health, improve organization performance, support strategic information, and the analysis of organizational resources.

All these factors have led to the improvement of IG in healthcare through good quality healthcare practice in health institutions as well as other health governing bodies within the state. Information Governance will help in improving healthcare performance especially in the management and provision of healthcare services to patients (Sanders, 2014). The advantages realized from this approach are improved business strategy, gain competitive advantage, improved organizational performance, support in strategic decision-making procedures, handling of medical resources such as electronic health records and enhancing clinical researches using the latest technological tools and techniques. The IG program has facilitated these processes through helping in the reduction of medical errors and malpractices, as well as improving the quality of healthcare services and in the end assist in improving the total global population health. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is no exception as it is a good example that has indicated that IG programs are the best platforms in the provision of quality and effective healthcare services.

Discussion

Several advantages have been associated with Information Governance (IG) in healthcare systems. These advantages are improved patient outcomes, reduced risks, reduced medical errors, improved governance strategy, the possibility of litigation and higher patient-doctor interaction. Empirical evidence has indicated that IG is practiced in 95% of health centers globally and the IG programs have led to the reduction of malpractices and improvement of healthcare services in health centers (Reeves, 2016). The implementation of IG programs should help in the reduction of healthcare costs to manage and improve healthcare settings. The results expected from the IG program in healthcare systems are improved productivity, enhanced effectiveness and cost reduction (Empel, 2014). Implementation of an effective healthcare IG program will provide efficient standards and procedures for the improvement of healthcare management of patient information in different healthcare systems. Efficient healthcare data requires an electronic information monitoring framework that ensures the provision of quality information. The implementation of an elaborate IG framework will enhance an organization's effort by enabling the firms to use health records more effectively by improving the healthcare management services while lowering any costs incurred. The IG program in health institutions is usually supported through performance management where a good planning and review process of policies and procedures are done within a company setting. The performance management plan's purpose is to guide, support and develop employees in health centers to ensure the achievement of employee and organizational success. Performance management is usually an ongoing process that runs on an annual basis and is often shaped by organizational needs and perspectives. The main purpose of the performance management system is to develop a two-way communication channel between managers and employees, support the development of clear goals and objectives, assist in the achievement of measurable goals on an annual basis, establish the company’s core values and competencies and apply them in information governance, help and support career development and training needs amongst employees and establish a good loyalty program for rewarding the best performing and hardworking employees each year. Effective performance management begins with respecting each other in the work environment so as to ensure co-cooperativeness and unity is achieved in companies. The main function of the supervisors is to ensure that they communicate to staff regularly on issues that have come up within the firm’s setting and the best ways to overcome any disturbing issues. This can be done by communicating with all departments within the healthcare center through email to ensure that the staff also participate in tackling any issues from a departmental perspective. The conversations between staff should be governed through honesty, trust, resilience, and clarity so as to avoid confusion due to small petty mistakes which can be handled with ease. This will lead to performance improvement amongst the staff as well as the development of career opportunities and possibilities amongst employees. Each employee should participate fully in these conversations, be sure they understand their role responsibilities and expectations and communicate any issues on training needs in order to perform their role using the best strategies. Performance management should be happening yearly, and it should end with an assessment that should bring closure to the performance period and provide a basis for performance management for the next period. The following chart describes the performance management standards that are used by healthcare companies in Information Governance of healthcare data and ways of ensuring this data is safe from any cybercriminals:

Conclusion

The findings have shown that the Information Governance program in different healthcare settings can fully facilitate the goals and objectives of healthcare providers such as facilitating access to quality and reliable information and improving the quality of healthcare services. Studies have indicated that there is an improvement in service delivery to patients due to the implementation of the Information governance programs that are currently running in IG healthcare settings. IG programs have paved the way for quality documentation and have also enhanced decision making processes through the use of the recommended healthcare policies and procedures that are governed by federal law. The continuous exchange of vital healthcare information with providers, payers, and patients has necessitated the need for safe and fast information sharing through the IG program. The implementation of these programs will help health centers in the improvement in the management of health information through establishing the most relevant execution and monitoring policies, processes, and standards. This has led to the minimization of information costs and risks while maximizing better information value for efficient service delivery in healthcare companies.

References

Datskovsky G. (2010) Under Control: Governance Across the Enterprise. Chapter 11, Information Governance: What You Don‘t Know Can Bite You. CA Inc, USA.

Empel, S. (2014) The Way Forward: AHIMA Develops Information Governance Principles to Lead Healthcare Toward Better Data Management. J AHIMA; 85[10]:30-32.

Kadlec, L. (2015) Coming Soon to Your Healthcare Facility: Information Governance: A Look at Healthcare Information Governance Trends through Practical Case Studies. J AHIMA; 85(8): 26-32.

Reeves M. (20116) The Information Governance Road Map Mile Marker 1—Travel Planning. Journal of AHIMA

Sanders, Daniel (2014). Demystifying Healthcare Data Governance: An Executive Report. Health Catalyst. https://www.healthcatalyst.com/demystifying-healthcare-data-governance. Health data management trends to watch in 2018: CDI, security lead the list

Siwicki, Bill (2018). clinical documentation improvement and information governance will demand the attention of health IT and InfoSec executives in the year ahead. J. AHIMA

Warner D (2014). What is information governance (IG) 101? J. AHIMA. 2014. http://journal.ahima.org/2013/12/04/ig-101- what-is-information-governance

Warner D. (2014) AHIMA. Information Governance (IG) 101: Information Governance is Needed Now. http://bok.ahima.org/doc?oid=300882#.

Weinberg, J, Peterson, S, Marc, D; Sandefer, R. Aligning (2015). Computer-Assisted Coding and Information Governance Efforts. J AHIMA

SUPERVISION

PROCESS AND SYSTEMS

Performance Evaluation

Job Competency

Position Description

POLICIES

Recruitment and Hiring

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Ongoing Communication

Professional Development and Learning

CULTURE AND VALUES

Expectation and goal setting

Professional development and learning