Assignment 3: Presentation of Assignment 2/ power point

Health care it systems

Melanie Jackson

Professor Louisa Ukochovwera

HSA 315

1.a) Define the fundamental responsibilities and key characteristics of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) within health care organizations

A Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a person who is responsible for the technologies that are used in helping the business to run effectively and in its operations (Schubert, 2004). Therefore, this means that a CIO should ensure that he/she inspects and manages the development as well as the improvement of technology in the healthcare organization. A CIO is responsible for the general function of the technology in the hospital. Basically, they come up with the required information of the technology and implement it for the hospital to use. Therefore, it is a clear indication that the CIO has the responsibility to ensure that the medical practitioners use the technology and also to improve and update the technology of the health care. In addition to that, the CIO must ensure that he/she generates roles and knowledge for the use of the information system so that the medical officers can be able to use the information system effectively without any hardships (Schubert, 2004). 

On the other hand, a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is a person who is responsible for the current technology used by the healthcare organization and to create relevant policy. Therefore, a CTO in an organization should ensure that they are well aware and have the necessary knowledge of the healthcare so that they can make a decision on technology based on the goals of the hospital. A CTO is responsible for evaluating the technological standards. He is also responsible for supervising the IT managers. In addition to that, a CTO must ensure that they possess some managerial skills that will help them in determining the projects that should be implemented in the organization.

1.b) Make one (1) recommendation where they can utilize their expertise to assist with employee and patient satisfaction. Support your response with related examples of such expertise in use

Basically, it is the responsibilities of these officers to ensure that there are efficiency and use of the information technology. They both have a duty to ensure that the health practitioners can utilize and use the IT of the healthcare organization properly and efficiently (Schubert, 2004). Therefore, this means that both the CTO and CIO should ensure that nurses and doctors, as well as other employees, are well trained on how to use the IT. For example, both the CTO and CIO can hold a workshop or a seminar so that they can train the employees. In addition to that, they can also come up with a chat box where they can have a conversation with an employee if they are faced with some difficulty in using the IT. Therefore, if the employees are well-trained in the use of IT systems, they will be able to help the patients without any difficulty hence promoting patient satisfaction.

2) Suggest two (2) developing technologies that health care systems should use in order to improve health care processes and thus increase the quality and lower the cost of health services. Provide a rationale to support your response

Basically, people think that the technology that is used in the hospitals is very expensive which hence make their services expensive too. However, if the technologies in the hospitals are effectively used, it will help in reducing cost and saving the cash that patients use for services. With the evolution of strange diseases that crop up, it is better for hospitals to come up with preventative care and technology that can be used. The first technology that I suggest is the electronic medical record. This type of a system can be used in improving the patient satisfaction. This type of a system can help the healthcare organization since it contains general information such as the medical history of patients and treatments. This will help in improving healthcare processes and as well as increase the quality of services provided. When the organization implements this system, patients data can be tracked hence there will be no loss of data. In addition to that, since EMR is specifically designed to improve patient satisfaction, it means that it will reduce the wait times as well as reducing the cost while moving from the system of fee-for-service. This system gathers unwanted costs for patients.

The second system that healthcare systems should use in order to improve healthcare processes and thus increase the quality and lower the cost of health services is the personal health record. This system is important for every organization since it can help the organization in collecting and tracing the past and current information of the patients. This system will improve the health care processes since they will be able to have the complete health information of all its patients. The information is helpful to patients since they won’t have to incur another cost and inconveniences of repeating the routine medical tests that were already done in the past. In addition to that, the past information of the patients can give light to the medical care providers of the personal health history of a patient.

3) Determine two (2) significant methods that health care systems should use in order to prevent misuse of information and protect data privacy and thus achieve a high level of security of health information. Provide a rationale to support your response

The first method that can be used is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This method will help patients and other persons in maintaining their health insurance coverage. Therefore, this means that it will help in protecting the information of all the medical records that a healthcare organization has (Nass, Levit, & Gostin, 2009). It will also protect other health information used or stored and also ensures that the rights of the patients are secured HIPAA laws give some individuals who should be in compliance with the law. They include; hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health. Therefore, the patient’s medical information is fully protected at all times and cannot be disclosed to any party. The health care providers are required to provide the patients with an account of each entity where the health care provider reveals the personal health information for the purposes of setting out the bill and administrative purposes as well.

HIPAA laws also give the patients a right to have full access to their medical records whenever they want to. I think that this method should be used by healthcare hospitals since it will help them in ensuring that there is the protection of the personal health information of the patients. HIPAA laws will help the health care providers as well as the organization to comply with the regulations. Hence, patients will be able to be confident since they know that their health information is secured (Nass, Levit, & Gostin, 2009). 

The second method that health organizations should use is the access controls. Access controls are a unique method to use since it is one of the best ways used in restricting access to the personal information of the patients. However, the method of the access control that should be used should have specific features so as to ensure that security is well enhanced. Basically, access control helps in the provision of confidentiality of the Electronic Medical Record. Therefore, the access controls help in authorization process since the system helps in checking if the user can access the information that is requested for. The access controls are like pin numbers and passwords. This means that it reduces or rather limits the access to a patient’s personal health information. It does this by encrypting the stored health information of the patients (Akhgar, & Arabnia, 2013). 

When using access control, medical care providers and other practitioners have to undergo three steps so as to access to the information of patients. The first step is the identification where a provider or the patient has to input the username. After that, authentication has to be done. This is the second step where the provider or patient will input the password or pin. Thereafter, authorization will be done which is the third step. This is where the access rights are given to the patient or the healthcare provider. This is a clear indication that healthcare systems will be able to prevent misuse of information and protect data privacy and thus achieve a high level of security of health information. Lastly, the health information of a patient cannot be acquired without their consent except for a person who can be able to decrypt by use of a special key. The special key is only available for the authorized individuals (Akhgar, & Arabnia, 2013). Therefore, this is a clear indication that the health care system will be able to prevent ant misuse of information.

4) Suggest one (1) strategy for health care organizations to train providers in using technology in health care. Provide a rationale to support your response

Training of the health care providers is essential when there is an introduction of new technology in the organization. One strategy that healthcare organizations can use in using the technology in healthcare is by introducing them to the technology and in a practical setting. After they it has been introduced, they can then be given an access to it (Jeffries, & Battin, 2012). Basically, it is best to first make the providers familiar with the technology that they will be using. When a new technology is introduced in the organization, the providers can be trained on how to use it. An IT specialist who is conversant and knows how to use the new technology can help the other providers. The organization can use various methods in training employees. The first method is the role-based training where providers can get educated according to the functions of the technology. The providers can be trained through the presentation which will visually introduce them and to the functioning of the system as well as to its features. The use of presentations is effective since when introducing the practitioners to a totally new technology, the presentation will help them since it contains images and pictures of the step to be followed when using the technology. They can also use simulation training. In this type of training, the providers will be able to get exposed to an effective environment where they can use the technology in real life. The health care providers will be able to use the technology for the first time. Therefore, they get exposed and hence it will help them in reducing the notable mistakes. When they make mistakes on the training, it will be hard for them to do the same mistakes again. This method helps employees in perfecting their skills of using the new technology (Jeffries, & Battin, 2012). 

It is important to note that for the healthcare providers to train and understand well, they have to be in a practical setting. A practical setting will help in introducing the providers in the real application of the technologies and what they will be taught into practice. For example, if the providers are being to a totally new technology, then it will be important to let them have an access to the system so that they can have a practical encounter.

5) Provide three (3) best practices for effective IT alignment and strategic planning initiatives. Justify your response

It is important for the organizations to align their IT and their strategic planning initiatives. Of course, if health care organization fails to implement proper training, planning, and budgeting, then it won’t run effectively. If employees are not well trained and the planning is poor, then definitely, the employees won’t be satisfied hence the organization will end up retaining fewer patients and will have a decrease in their revenue. In order for the organization to avoid such losses, they first have to ensure that they establish the best technology that will help in the facilitation. It is important for an organization to define the facilitation of the technology so as to avoid the difficulties that can be encountered due to poor facilitation. If it defines the technology and its facilitation poorly, the healthcare will be faced with difficulties when changing and implementing an information technology system. A thorough review of the local processes and before the use of IT systems will help in reducing the risk that the organization may face as well as helping in the recognition of the existence of the problems (Mastrian, 2011). 

The second best practice is by ensuring that the health care providers are well trained. The providers should know their individual roles. The training will help the providers to practice on what they have trained duplicate what they have learned to their working stations. For those providers who are slow learners than others, they should be given enough time so as to understand well. The third practice is by evaluating the progress continuously. The providers can give feedback and it can be used in incorporating an on-ongoing implementation activity. A continuous evaluation will help organizations to come up with new solutions if there is a lot of negative feedback on the use of the current technology (Mastrian, 2011). 

References

Akhgar, B. & Arabnia, H. (2013). Emerging trends in ICT security. Waltham, Massachusetts: Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier.

Bhatt, C., Dey, N. & Ashour, A. (2017). Internet of things and big data technologies for next generation healthcare. Cham: Springer.

Jeffries, P. & Battin, J. (2012). Developing successful health care education simulation centers : the consortium model. New York: Springer Pub. Co.

Mastrian, K. (2011). Integrating technology in nursing education : tools for the knowledge era. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Nass, S., Levit, L. & Gostin, L. (2009). Beyond the HIPAA privacy rule : enhancing privacy, improving health through research. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.

Schubert, K. (2004). CIO survival guide : the roles and responsibilities of the chief information officer. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

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