HSA 315 Assignment 3

Jonathan Henderson

Week 8 Assignment 2

HSA 315

Janet Kaplan

September 2, 2019

Chief Information Officer (CIO) is also known as Chief Digital Information Officer or Information Technology Director in the company or organization. The duty of the CIO is to deal with the information technology and computer systems related issues in the company. The responsibilities of the CIO is to determine the objectives and strategies of the IT department of the company. They also implement suitable technology in order to run the internal operations of the company to get strategic benefits. The CIO may also supervise the IT related objectives of the company.

In comparison, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is the person who is responsible to develop the technology strategies that serves the strategies of the business in the company. Their duties consist of focusing on the product and enhancement of the revenues of the company. Additionally, they are responsible for determining the technical direction of the company. Moreover, they assist in the recruitment process to determine the technical direction of the company and engage with the customers and stakeholders to increase the value of the product for the company. They can utilize their expertise to assist with employee and patient satisfaction by collaborating effectively. For example, they may assist in the implementation of new machines in a hospital that in return may address the health issues of patients. This is critical to help identify issues more efficiently and help physicians make more sound decisions.

There are two developing technologies that health care systems can use in order to improve health care processes. The first one is the implementation of the EMR because this system helps to decrease waiting time. Furthermore, this system helps to lower the cost while transitioning from the fee-for-service phase. This helps to lower the unwanted costs that patients have to bear. Hospitals and clinics can help maximize patient satisfaction by adopting practices geared towards the patient. The Electronic Health Record system will help to record the patient’s progress and alert of any possible health issues. It helps to foster the world’s best health practices and industry standards to make sure that the patient receives the best care. The patient’s manual record can be subjective to change at any time; however, a physical record is kept more safe and secure and can be easily transmitted as needed.

The second developing technology is a Personal Health Record (PHR). A PHR is an electronic record about the patient’s health which is maintained from multiple sources during the treatment of the individual. The main focus of the PHR is to maintain the complete summary of the medical history of the patient and can be accessible at anytime from anywhere by the use of online resources and physicians.

In order to secure the rights of the patient and prevent misuse of information, HIPAA was implemented to protect and safeguard records containing medical treatment for the patients. Hospitals, home health, and nursing facilities should be in compliance with the HIPAA laws. This system gives the sense of safety to the patients by providing them with a sense of security in terms of the personal data being shared. The information is not shared with anyone without the consent of the patient.

This system has done wonders in the field of the healthcare by enhancing the confidence of the patients regarding their healthcare information. There is a sense of relief for the patient knowing that their information is kept confidential.

Furthermore, “Access controls” i.e. PIN numbers and passwords, etc. provides an additional layer of security while limiting access to their information. Moreover, the “Encryption” helps to store the data more efficiently. It is a very useful technique due to the fact that every person cannot decrypt the information and access the data. In theory, only that specific person, who has the prepared key for the decrypt, will be able to access the record. Patients are more confident and inclined to using the security according to the rules and regulations. “Audit trials” provide a clear overview of the record activity to assist the IT security team in the event of a hack or other unexpected issue.

A strategy to train health care organizations is imperative to ensuring all staff is compliant and using all systems as directed. This training helps develop the employees and builds confidence while working with patients. One strategy that health care organizations can take to train providers in the technology of healthcare is hiring tech savvy employees. The employee must feel comfortable using the systems. It is important for the hospital or other health facilities to identify the individuals that are not comfortable with the use of the new implemented system based on the technology. Traditional ways of record maintaining i.e. paper based is easier than the computerized system, so it is necessary to develop the computer skills needed for the role. Additionally, it is important to focus on the development of the employees so that they cope with the changing trends in society. But it is not necessary to teach all the terminologies of the new implemented system to all the employees. This will create the frustration among the staff. Obviously, the supervisors will be trained on all aspects of the systems, while the rest of the employees should be trained according to the specific nature of their role. Feedback plays an important role in the implementation of the system. The feedback can be shared with the IT team in efforts to creating a more controlled environment and make it more user friendly. In return, this will persuade the staff to use said systems as required.

The initiatives of the effective IT alignment and strategic planning are important in any company or organization. It is impossible to run the healthcare system without effective budgeting, training and planning. This leads towards the decline in the revenue due to patient’s dissatisfaction. It is crucial for the organization to deal with these complications by implementing the effective designs of the technology. The implementation of the new system in the organization, after the identification of the risks and problems has a huge impact on the business. Training plays an important role in the progress and prosperity of the company because it develops the skills in the employees that help to achieve high standards for the patients. Transition phase for the employees from the paper based record to the computerized record making is not easy, only training can correct these behaviors. Evaluation process is the backbone of the entire system. It is necessary for the company to gather the data and improve the facilities after the revaluation of the healthcare units.

References

De Harlez, Y., & Malagueno, R. (2016). Examining the joint effects of strategic priorities, use of management control systems, and personal background on hospital performance. Management Accounting Research, 30, 2-17.

Groves, P., Kayyali, B., Knott, D., & Kuiken, S. V. (2016). The'big data'revolution in healthcare: Accelerating value and innovation.

Basu, S., Andrews, J., Kishore, S., Panjabi, R., & Stuckler, D. (2012). Comparative performance of private and public healthcare systems in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. PLo