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3-1 Final Project Milestone One: Initiation and Preparation
Southern New Hampshire University
HIM-440: Management of Health Information Services
July 17,2022
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Initiation and Preparation Phase
For forming Gateway Healthcare Systems, St. Catherine’s Medical Center will be
merging with Luke’s Hospital and Hickman Community Hospital. The ‘Initiation and
Preparation Phase’ phase will be highly critical so that the facilities can function in a cohesive
manner and deliver quality services to the public. While working on the phase, some of the key
elements that have been taken into consideration include the issues that could arise for the HIM
department, compliance concerns, cultural issues that could impact quality as well as
productivity and the mission and vision of the facilities. A detailed SWOT analysis has also been
conducted to identify the key variables that may impact the Health Information Management
department of the merged entity.
Summary
The merger of the three health care facilities into a single entity could give rise to a broad
range of issues in the HIM department. After the review of the data of St. Catherine’s Medical
Center, Luke’s Hospital and Hickman Community Hospital, some of the main issues that have
been identified are the limited staff diversity and the lack of necessary credentials of the staff.
Similarly, the department associations in some of the facilities is weak, which could adversely
affect collaboration and teamwork. The other elements that are lack within the organizations
include proper communication, training and development opportunities for the staff members,
etc.
Compliance
While merging the health care facilities together to form a single entity, a number of
compliance issues could arise. At present, compliance to relevant standards and policies is a
major source of concern. For example, the Hickman Community Hospital does not comply with
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the requisite ADA guidelines as highlighted by the previous Joint Commission accreditation
survey. Similarly, it does not adhere to the TJC standards concerning leadership. While merging
the facilities together, it is essential to focus on the compliance aspects so that Gateway
Healthcare Systems could function in a systematic and professional manner. The PHI must be
handled in a cautious manner so that the privacy of the patients would not get compromised.
Proper compliance with HIPAA is necessary (Nosowsky & Giordano, 2006). The leaders must
play a proactive role to ensure safe and quality care is delivered to patients and proper coding
methods are in place (Wightman, 2008).
Cultural Diversity
The cultural diversity is a vital aspect that must be given due importance while merging
the health care facilities to form a cohesive unit. At present, the cultural diversity in some of the
health care facilities is lacking. It is vital to address this imbalance by having in place a
diversified workforce. the cultural issues impacting quality and productivity. The lack of proper
cultural competence is a serious issue that could arise in the case study and affect the employees
and the organization. It is vital to focus on increasing the cultural competence of the staff
members so that they would be able to cohesively function with others (Nair & Adetayo, 2019).
Mission and Vision
The mission and vision of each of the hospital varies to a certain degree. The mission of
St. Catherine’s Medical Center is to offer correct PHI services to all patients by focusing on
concern, dignity and care. Its vision involves offering PHI to patients by focusing on privacy and
sensitivity. Luke’s Hospital’s mission is to offer providers, staff and residents, timely access to
PHI for research, treatment as well as reimbursement. Its vision revolves around state-of-the-art
technology and HIM. The mission of Hickman Community Hospital is to continuously
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safeguard PHI. Its vision is to serve the health information requirements of the local community
and make sure that patient information is securely handled. Even though the mission and vision
of the facilities vary, they revolve around PHI and creating value for others. d
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis of each of the health care facilities has been presented below.
Emphasis has been laid on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that arise before
their Health Information Management departments.
St. Catherine’s
Strengths
• High emphasis is given to delivering
accurate patient health information
services to all patients
• High diversity of staff and patients
• Reputation
• Strong record of employee retention
Weaknesses
• Low level of productivity
• Limited formal health information
credentials or qualification of the long-
term employees
• Non-compliance of staff
• Application of manual coding books
Opportunities
• Upgrading staff productivity
• Enhancing the existing coding standards
as well as dictation system
• Offering new opportunities to employees
with disability or special physical needs
Threats
• Poor ability to attract talented staff as a
result of low salary level as compared to
industry standards
• Unable to capitalize on technologies since
obsolete practices are in place
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St. Luke’s
Strengths
• Emphasis on research, treatment, and
reimbursement areas
• Existence of credentialed HIM staff
• High patient diversity
Weaknesses
• High staff attrition
• Poor diversity of staff
• Lack of the existence of an HIM manager
or director
• Existence of obsolete EHR system
• Poor communication between EHR and
other systems
• Lack of experience of the coding manager
and poor work relationships
• Low performance expectations relating to
coding
Opportunities
• Retention of credible HIM staff for over
2 years
• Strengthening interoperability of the
innovative systems
• Proper alignment of existing processes
Threats
• Unable to retain talented staff
• Chances of poor level of productivity
because of high dependence on manual
practices
Hickman
Strengths
Weaknesses
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Hickman
• Robust professional relationships
between departmental and
organizational staff members
• Existence of family culture that
contributes to staff longevity
• Accessibility concerns
• Non-compliance with the necessary ADA
guidelines as per the last Joint Commission
accreditation survey
• Poor diversity of patients and staff
• Non-adherence to TJC standards on
leadership
• Lack of HIM staff with AHIMA credentials
• Poor coding quality or quantity expectations
• Use of manual coding methods
Opportunities
• Better cultural diversity
• Rise in AHIMA-credentialed
employees in HIM department
• Better automation
Threats
• Low level of productivity
• Non-compliance leading to complications
Unified HIM Department SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• Focus on PHI
• Presence of HIM department
• Credentials of some staff members
Weaknesses
• Poor management of PHI
• Lack of professionalism of staff members
• Obsolete technological practices
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Unified HIM Department SWOT Analysis
Opportunities
• Better policies on handling PHI
• Better compliance
• Enhanced productivity by leveraging
innovation
Threats
• Low productivity
• Lack of ability to use new technologies
Conclusion
The merger of the heh care facilities into a single unit could give rise to diverse issues
and challenges relating to compliance, cultural problems, and the misalignment of mission and
visions. Such issues could adversely affect the ability of the new HIM unction to optimally
function. It is essential for the merged entity to leverage the common strengths and capitalize the
existing opportunities so that it could optimally functions and deliver value in the community
setting.
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References
Nosowsky, R., & Giordano, T. J. (2006). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy rule: implications for clinical research. Annu. Rev. Med., 57,
575-590.
Nair, L., & Adetayo, O. A. (2019). Cultural competence and ethnic diversity in healthcare. Plastic
and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 7(5)
Wightman, J. (2008). SSIS Security. Pro SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, 337-353.
