The basic healthcare information system has several functions including the generation of data, compiling data, analysis and synthesis, and data use. These four functions have been identified with the newly-acquired health information system in Happytown. Happytown Medical Center which is a middle-sized hospital with its main facilities in Happytown and has five other clinics which depend on its health information systems (HIS) for data collection, analysis, and use. Due to the heterogeneity of the systems available for healthcare information systems, integration will need the harmonization of data, functions, and workflows to get a flexible and scalable architecture of the HIS. The following functions are available for the HIS at Happytown:

1. Electronic medical records for patients,

2. Electronic prescribing,

3. Clinical decision support systems,

4. Computerized provider order entry, and

5. Telehealth

Happytown is a 400-bed facility with five smaller clinics each having a 22-bed capacity and spread across the state. The identified HIS systems each operate independently since their installation in the last year. The management of Happytown wishes to bring these systems together for all clinics such that better management of systems is realized and the benefits as such also reaped from the same. The expected benefits include the improvement of health quality and outcomes through a better information flow and interconnectedness of systems which will serve clients better. The specific objectives of this project are described below.

Objectives

The first objective of this project is to increase the interoperability information systems in the healthcare organization. This objective will be met if the different branches of Happytown Medical Center can adequately communicate with each other’s information systems without the need to change the local information systems as well as without the interruption of the tasks that health care professionals handle. This objective is further extended to external communications with other healthcare organizations especially in hospitals where patients may be referred to. Although the interoperability with external organizations comes as a secondary point of focus for Happytown, it still is part of the main objectives of integrating healthcare information systems in the organization.

The second major objective of the project is to implement an intelligent care system where the integration of information systems will allow the management and monitoring of all functions of the healthcare organization. In an intelligent care system, Kaur & Chana (2014) claim that the main function is the connectivity of systems and architecture in the healthcare system. For instance, when monitoring the vitals of a patient in a wardroom, the blood pressure of that patient should be monitored on a system that can relay information to a nurse (who is not in the room). In the case of significant changes in the blood pressure, the client’s system alarm goes off and notifies the nurse for quick response.

Business Needs

In the enterprise analysis of Happytown Medical Center, it is also crucial to come up with the business needs to be met by this unique project. As part of the healthcare sector, Happytown is, first and foremost, focused on the overall improvement of the health of populations. Squires & Anderson (2015) observe that despite the relatively high spending rates on drugs among Americans, the health of people here is worse than most of the developed countries. Therefore, while serving the basic humanitarian needs of healthcare, the project aims at improving the health of the population specifically the population in Happytown area. This business need is closely tied to the marketability of the organization as a quality healthcare center focused on the needs of clients.

While the improvement of health for the betterment of the society is fundamental to the integration of information systems at Happytown, the business value of the organization is also central to the entire project. Through the implementation of the integration project, the reputation of Happytown Medical Center as a quality healthcare center will be improved. Specifically, its healthcare outcomes as well as the quality of care will be boosted to ensure positive patient experiences hence the marketing of the organization through patient experiences.

Finally, in 2015, Happytown Medical Center rolled out a 5-year plan focused on the adoption of technological solutions to improve the status of care in the hospital. Part of this plan titled “Happy 5 Goals” was to increase the use of healthcare information systems as part of ongoing research to develop better services to clients. Therefore, by integrating the information systems, the project will adequately complete the crucial step of incorporating HIS as part of a surveying tool to improve health. Therefore, other than improving the health of the population and the value of the company among the customers, the organization will also initiate a plan to effectively use patient data for surveys on the quality of care and care outcomes to improve care in general.

Major Components and Boundaries

The integration of HIS in Happytown will include many components including the basic components functions aforementioned as the core systems in the facility using the HIS. The components mainly include the different functions identified as well as their accompanying system needs as well. For instance, in electronic medical records, the accessibility of these records via mobile devices will require integration. Also, the interconnection of the EMR to the Telehealth function will also be required in the integration process. Specifically, the authentication and authorization services will need to be integrated for the single-login approach to the system. Furthermore, the accessibility of all services on an integrated mobile application will be required for the clients’ self-monitoring and management of health.

Elsewhere, the project will mainly focus on the integration of the organization’s system for interoperability and interconnectivity. Although it will prepare the system for external interoperability, the engineers will not design with any external HIS in mind. Therefore, the focus will be the six facilities under the Happytown Medical Center banner. Furthermore, the project will also be limited to the integration and interconnection of systems over a network and will not include the web publishing services necessary for social media marketing and interaction. Therefore, whatever network chosen for the system integration will serve the primary roles of connecting the different components and making them accessible and not connecting to the Internet.

Project Plan

The project is a relatively short one running for five weeks from start to finish. The start date is August 15, 2018 and the project ends on September 19, 2018. The following simple breakdown shows the division of specific tasks to the different weeks of the project.

Week	Project Task
1	Team selection
1	Requirements specification
2	Workflow designs
2	Software design
2	Software configuration
3	Data transfer
3	Mobile app development
4	Project testing
4	Project launch
5	Initiate training program

System Integration Best Practices

When implementing the HIS integration process, it will be necessary to implement the system best practices. The current activities towards better integration have to be included in this project. First, the system will focus on data availability, collection, and quality as well. Wager, Lee, & Glaser (2017) explain that the leading challenge of integrating systems is the availability of data, non-utilization of the existent data, and accessing data. Therefore, it will be crucial to build a platform that not only focuses on connecting the different parts of the HIS but also utilizing data effectively.

Additionally, a needs-based resource allocation in the integration which is inspired by evidence-based practices will be required. This approach to allocating resources capitalizes on the lean management of resources and also the best outcomes as influenced by evidence. In the healthcare sector, evidence-based practice has been a concept that many experts focus on. While focusing on developing the same in the information systems, it will be necessary to manage the project from an evidence-based approach to the project management. The application of the best practices will also vary with each deliverable and the market conditions during the implementation phase.

Requirements Specifications

The integration of healthcare information systems at Happytown Medical Center requires a concise specification of the technical and functional requirements of the system. The requirements of this particular project were elicited using three different approaches. The first approach which was favored was the stakeholder analysis. According to Ejaz et al. (2016), this approach includes the identification of all stakeholders and how will be affected or they will affect the system and then tailor those needs to the specification of requirements. This approach is superior because it allows the system to adequately address the unique needs of every person interacting with the system. Additionally, the interface-analysis approach was also used to supplement the stakeholder analysis as an elicitation approach. This method included the analysis of the touch points with external systems and designing their interfaces to be usable and effective at that. The elicitation process led to a more crucial approach which is the identification of stakeholders and their roles in the system integration and use.

The stakeholders in the integration of information systems at Happytown Medical Center include the patients, the hospital management, clinicians, and the system developers who will be handling the integration process. With these stakeholders, different roles are realized. First, the patients are the system customers on whom the information system will be used to serve them better. Therefore, when designing the integration process, the definition of quality from the customers’ point of view is crucial. Secondly, the health center management is the client whose system will be integrated. As the client, they provide a shortlist of the requirements they have for the system. That is they need to define what they want the system to do for the organization so that system developers can have a clear idea of how to develop the system. Elsewhere, the clinicians are the primary users of the information system and their input will be to define the best case scenarios as well as the meaningful use of the system. As for the system developers, they handle the technical work according to specific requirements.

The definition of components and interfaces for this system will allow a closely-monitored and appropriated design. There are three general categories of components of the HIT which must be managed through the integration and these include the input, processes, and output components. The input components of this system include the system resources required for the functioning of the system and they mainly include the personnel, financing, logistical support by the management, the information technology, and coordinating mechanisms. Secondly, the processes have several components as well and these include the indicators, data sources, and data management tools. Indicators, in this case, include the measurement components such as the user’s ease of using the system. When it comes to the data sources and management tools, the database for the patient information as well as the system communication applications are the main components. Finally, regarding the output, the system has to focus on the components for communicating with other systems and users such as the mobile devices and the computer software.

The interfaces for the system are indeed critical to the entire system management and use. First, the user interfaces allow stakeholders and particularly system users to interact with the system well. For this system, the user interface will be mobile applications and on-desk computer applications as well. The system will also connect with other similar systems via the Internet for the exchange of information upon authorization by the users.

Additionally, several functional and non-functional requirements have to be considered. Kaur & Chana (2014) explain that the difference between functional and non-functional requirements is that while the former defines the uses of the system, the latter mainly deals with characteristics of the system as a whole. The main functional requirements, as such is the storage and retrieval of data at the will of the user, the sending of messages from one user to the other, order entry and management, results management, patient support, and decision support for clinicians. On the other hand, the non-functional requirements include the accessibility of the system locally, compliance with HIPAA regulations, data backup and recovery, interoperability with other systems, and the privacy of the data stored in the system. The system should also operate on Android devices as applications and also be supported by the latest version of Windows OS.

When describing these specifications, the main assumptions playing a role in this system are that the system will have the capacity to serve the population of Happytown which is around 70,000 people. Also, the developer assumes the full support of the management in providing the financial resources to complete the integration according to the described requirements. Above all, continuing with the system as it is now provides the advantage of collecting the required resources to complete the project. Particularly, the requirements present a clear visualization of what has to be applied for this business case and thus the design will be more informed. On the other hand the lack of financial approval from the management of Happytown Medical Center may cause problems with the implementation hence there is an urgent need for budget estimation as a means of controlling the requirements to be developed in the project.

Figure 1: An overview of the system requirements (diagram created using Lucid Charts).

Enterprise System Integration Analysis (TBD)

Systems Integration Approach Evaluation and Selection (TBD)

Proposed System Integration Components Architecture (TBD)

Implementation Framework (TBD)

System Integration Implementation Plan (TBD)

References

Ejaz, A., Khalid, A., Ahmed, S., & Cheema, M. (2016). Effectiveness of Requirements Elicitation Techniques in Software Engineering Process: A Comparative Study Based on Time, Cost, Performance, Usability and Scalability of Various Techniques. International Journal of Management, Information Technology and Engineering, 4(5), 23-28.

Kaur, P. D., & Chana, I. (2014). Cloud based intelligent system for delivering health care as a service. Computer methods and programs in biomedicine, 113(1), 346-359.

Squires, D., & Anderson, C. (2015). US health care from a global perspective: spending, use of services, prices, and health in 13 countries. The Commonwealth Fund, 15, 1-16.

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons.