Informatics Discussion Board 3
Health Information Technology Governance and the Affordable Care Act
John Coran
Liberty University
Health information technology represents a critical enabler for health care organizations
to achieve strategic objectives and operational excellence. In order to optimize the value of
health information technology resources, a health care organization must have in place effective
governance to ensure alignment with institutional strategic objectives and the effective
prioritization of limited resources (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). As an emerging idea of health care
delivery in the United States, the concept of health information governance is far from developed
in most health care facilities. Given that health care is an information-intensive endeavor, health
information technology represents a core pillar that enables and supports a modern health care
organization’s ability to achieve its strategic and operational objectives (Nelson & Staggers,
2014). Health care organizations must also ensure that their health information efforts are aligned
with the organization’s key objectives. Also, healthcare organization’s strategic and operational
initiatives often require health information technology resources in order to be optimally
effective (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). According to Nelson and Staggers, “ The critical nature of
effective health information technology governance arises from the following fundamental
interrelated needs: 1. The need to ensure alignment of health information technology resources
with institutional priorities, 2. The need to effectively prioritize the use of health information
technology resources in the face of numerous competing demands for these limited resources.”
Health care institutions and organizations are recognized as being one of the most complex of all
organizational structures. Historically, beyond priorities established by leadership, requests for
health information technology resources are received from researchers of medical institutions,
the finance and quality departments, specialists who are refining clinical processes or
investigating clinical variances, and so forth (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). The role of health
information technology governance is to help to clarify priorities, allocate resources, and approve
the funding to support the expansion of available health information technology resources.
Health information technology governance should also be accountable to track and monitor the
benefits of these investments (Nelson and Staggers, 2014). In order for the health care industry
of the United States to meet these needs Nelson and Staggers offers the following components so
that health information technology can be effective, “1. Organizational structures responsible for
clearly defining institutional priorities. Typically this function is primarily the responsibility of
the board of directors and senior leadership of a health care organization, 2. Organizational
structures responsible for ensuring that health information technology efforts are aligned with
institutional priorities and used optimally, 3. Accompanying processes to operationalize the
governance. For example, health information technology governance typically incorporates
formal processes for proposing new projects requiring health information technology resources,
evaluating and prioritizing potential projects, approving funding, and monitoring return on
investment.” The health care field of the United States, in establishing governance of health
information technology, should strongly consider and respect should be given to the governance
structures and decision-making processes that are already in place within the organization.
There has also been an increasing demand for health information technology within the
health care industry of the United States. Due in large part to the successful implementation of
core enabling technologies such as electronic health record systems and computerized provider
order entry systems, there exists a continual increase in the demand of health information
technology resources (Nelson and Staggers, 2014). The implementation of major clinical
information systems is just the beginning of an institution’s health information technology
initiative. Health information technology initiatives often require the close coordination and
collaboration of various institutional stakeholders as well. To offer an example, an electronic
health record system implementation will affect every area of a healthcare institution. So a
traditional governance structure that is informatics centered by nature may present a barrier to
the kind of integrated, cross-stakeholder coordination and collaboration that is required (Nelson
& Staggers, 2014). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act holds certain legislative
standards and protocols that obligate the health care industry to incorporate certain forms of
health information technology. One such form of health information technology that needs
governance is the implementation of electronic health records. Electronic health records do not
only increase productivity by allowing physicians and health care professionals to access health
records for patients instantly, but also by involving patients in their own health care. Further, it
causes an initiative to educate patients and increase their health literacy.
References
Faguet, G. (2013) Affordable Care Act. New York, NY Algora Publishing.
Nelson, R, & Staggers, N. (2014) Health Informatics An Interprofessional Approach. St. Louis,
MI Elsevier Mosby.
Braunstein, M. (2014) Contemporary Health Informatics. Chicago, IL American Health
Information Management Association.
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