Major Issues With the Hospital’s Information Technology

Topic: Health Tech
Words: 1110 Pages: 4

Introduction

You already know that the hospital appointed an expert to assist in pinpointing the biggest problems with its IT systems that must be fixed. The consultant sent in his findings after visiting various departments, speaking with personnel, inspecting the software and hardware, and assessing its effectiveness.

Summary of Findings

Hospital Issue Joint Commission Standard Explanation: Why is this necessary?
Computer systems are outdated, offering a suitable environment for the most recent software releases. IM.01.01.01 The organization plans for managing information “Appropriate persons guarantee that necessary data and information are efficiently given for patient care, research, teaching, and management at all levels.”
Since there is no uniformity in the types of software used or their versions throughout the company, employees in various divisions cannot easily share data and documents in electronic form. IM.01.01.03 The (healthcare organization) plans for the continuity of its information management processes. “An organization’s capacity to provide high-quality treatment and continue its commercial activities might be severely harmed by disruptions to its information system.”
Given that there is neither an institutional data registry nor a local area network that department heads have access to, reports must be compiled in the unit that is responsible for their generation, printed, and then re-entered into computer systems in organizational divisions before they can be used in the administrative software. IM.02.01.01 The (healthcare organization) protects the privacy of health information. “There has to be a company-wide commitment to keeping patients’ medical records secure. Companies safeguard customers’ data by using it solely for purposes related to customer service.”
A network-based administration database accessible to all offices would need data collection once; afterward, it would be accessible to prospective users and functions without reprocessing. IM.02.02.01 The (healthcare organization) effectively manages the collection of health information and retrieves, disseminates, and transmits health information in usable formats. “Data integrity and dependability may improve, as can the likelihood of widespread adoption of the data by internal and external systems and users if captured in a common language. The more accurate the hospital’s initiatives are to gather reliable data in standardized terminology, the more likely it is to depend on that data for patient-related goals like payment, risk management, quality enhancement, and infection monitoring.”
If the hospital were to convert all of the hourly or daily logs that it presently creates, they would be able to be managed and retrieved with more efficiency if they were in digital forms IM.04.01.01 The (healthcare organization) maintains accurate health information. “The efficiency and efficacy of all upstream and downstream processes, in addition to public reporting, are affected by the accuracy and reliability of health data. Data scanning and error correction need more time and effort when reliability breaches. Making decisions based on inaccurate information might be risky.”

Comparative Analysis of the Findings and Concerns

The first issue is that the hospital’s computer systems are outdated, and do not offer a suitable environment for the most recent software releases. IM.01.01.01 requires that the organization plans for managing information. This is achieved by ensuring that the appropriate persons guarantee that necessary data and information are efficiently given for patient care, research, teaching, and management at all levels. The second issue was lack of uniformity in the types of software used hence inability to share information seamlessly among users. IM.01.01.03 advocates for the organization to plan for the seamlessness in its information management processes. Failure in this function may disrupt the organization’s information system.

Thirdly, there is lack of an institutional data registry or a local area network. IM.02.01.01 calls for effective safeguarding of health information. Lack of proper patient data protection mechanisms can result in breaches. Fourthly, the hospital lacks a network-based administration database accessible to all departments. IM.02.02.01 mandates the healthcare organization to effectively collect, store and manage patient data in usable formats. The accurate capturing of patient data increases its reliability and integrity. Finally, the hospital needs to simplify the hourly or daily logs to facilitate effective management and retrieval. IM.04.01.01 requires the hospital to maintain accurate health information. The efficiency of all upstream and downstream processes increases accuracy and reliability of health data. Any bottlenecks increases the likelihood of inaccurate capturing of information and data breaches.

The software and technology City Hospital relies on to maintain and distribute patient data is a major source of concern. The latest software releases would assist departmental auditing if they were available on outdated workstations and servers. In other words, City Hospital’s data collection infrastructure needs an upgrade, including its hardware and software. Additionally, an enterprise-wide network is not yet in place at the hospital. As a result of the lack of uniformity in the organization’s software solutions and editions, employees in various sections of the business cannot share data and ideas in a digital medium. This results in departments of the company having to generate the same data in many reports. A system must be chosen to securely store patient data electronically and make it available to authorized parties. These findings raise a red flag because they indicate that City Hospital risks patient data being captured erroneously or disclosed to unauthorized individuals.

Recommendations

To begin with, many medical administrators’ worst fear is that their operations would not be efficient. When a healthcare organization is at peak capability, it may be challenging to monitor all operations to ensure they are functioning correctly (Mills et al., 2021). A solution exists, however, in the form of a centralized system that would enable the hospital to control the activities of all of its clinicians. Consequently, it will be faster to determine the tasks that need to be automated and track its employees’ work in real-time.

Application security becomes paramount in the healthcare industry when dealing with patient’s private health information. Information encryption, transmission, and decryption must adhere to strict guidelines set by the healthcare business (Moore et al., 2019). For medical applications to comply, they must use the proper type of encryption and adhere to the highest data security requirements. Furthermore, any third-party platform utilized to run a healthcare service should be secure, with thorough data security, authentication protocols, and business interruption policies and processes in place.

Finally, patients may gain from deploying innovative technology by receiving high-quality care. Therefore, all of the hospital’s health workers must be trained in the appropriate use of these devices. If not, people can be hesitant to use them or uncertain how to make the most of their capabilities. Offering ongoing training and instruction is one method to solve this difficulty (Morrison et al., 2019). The hospital may either accomplish this internally or by employing a third-party trainer. This allows the staff to stay abreast of any medical technological advancements.

References

Mills, A. F., Helm, J. E., & Wang, Y. (2021). Surge capacity deployment in hospitals: Effectiveness of response and mitigation strategies. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(2), 367-387. Web.

Moore, W., & Frye, S. (2019). Review of HIPAA, Part 1: History, Protected Health Information, and Privacy and Security Rules. Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, 47(4), 269–272. Web.

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. J., Morrison, J. R., & Kalman, H. K. (2019). Designing effective instruction. John Wiley & Sons.