Case study

HCM 520 Case Study #4

You are to write a 2-3 page paper, in APA formatting (with a proper cover page, well-organized paper with source citations, and an APA reference list—which do not count towards the page count requirement), which addresses the case questions. Your answer must be supplemented with research from your book, CDC, NIH, and other quality sources to determine answers and solutions. Note: You must use a minimum of three references in your responses, and at least one of them must be from the provided resources listed at the end of this assignment. This is a paper, so your answer should not be numbered, but rather you should use titles and subtitles.

Health Information Technology Analysis: Phil Jones is the CEO of a 200-bed hospital in the Midwest. His hospital is currently using IT to assist in billing and in managing the purchase and use of medical supplies. Individual electronic systems have been implemented in the pharmacy, laboratories, and radiology department. He is aware that money from the federal government will become available beginning in 2011 for hospitals that can demonstrate “meaningful use” of a certified electronic health record (EHR), and penalties will be applied beginning in 2015 for hospitals that fail to meet this standard. The hospital’s physicians have made it clear that they will not accept any EHR, which requires that they spend additional time doing their work. However, every study that Phil has read says that physicians will need to spend more time, at least in the beginning. They will also need to invest time helping the hospital select a system and advising on how to customize it before it is implemented. In conversations with his chief information officer and hospital board of directors, Phil has developed several options to overcome this hurdle:

 Hire a physician to work as Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) to engage with the physicians and do some of the work in selection and implementation of an EHR system. Questions regarding this approach include the following: Should the position be filled by a current physician or someone from another hospital with experience in IT? Should he or she be full time or practice medicine part time? Will the medical staff respect someone who has stopped practicing?

 Pay physicians during the first few months to attend training sessions, vendor presentations, and other meetings.

 Hire additional doctors to work as temporary backups for the current physicians.  Train nurses to serve as “super-users” of the new EHR system and assist nurses and doctors in

its use. And, here, should these be younger nurses who may be more comfortable with technology or older nurses who might command the respect of their peers?

The board has made it clear that the hospital cannot afford all of these measures. However, it has also made it clear that the hospital should not, under any circumstances, fail to receive the federal stimulus funds, starting in 2011. As the next board meeting approaches, Phil begins drafting his recommendation. Case Study Questions: Using the information presented in the above case, answer the following questions:

1. List the concerns of physicians as they learn about the hospital’s impending adoption of an EHR. Which are the most important and must be addressed?

2. Should the hospital pay the physicians to participate in a process that will improve patient care?

3. What should the nursing staff’s role be in the selection and implementation of the EHR?

_________________ Sources: (Use at least one reference from this list in your responses) Mapping Sources for Information on Health Information Technology. eHealth Initiative. (2010). States with operational HIE initiatives. The state of health information

exchange in 2010: Connecting the nation to achieve meaningful use. http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/full-report.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Offices of the National Coordinator, Health Information

Technology. (2010). State health information exchange cooperative agreement program. (List of states with award amounts.) http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open5512&objID=1488&parentname=CommunityPage &parentid=58&mode=2&in_hi_userid=11113&cached=true

CMS. (2013). The Official Web Site for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Incentive Programs. http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and- Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html?redirect=/ehrincentiveprograms/

HITECH. (2013). ABOUT HealthIT.gov. http://www.healthit.gov/ Glandon, G. L., Smaltz, D. H., & Slovensky, D. J. (2008). Information systems for healthcare management

(7th ed.). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press. Kropf, F., & Scalzi, G. (2007). Making information technology work: Maximizing the benefits for health

care organizations. Chicago, IL: Health Forum, American Hospital Association. Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2005). Managing health care information systems: A practical

approach for health care executives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.