Necessary Technology That Will Affect the Merged Healthcare Organizations
Currently, all medical professionals both operating in private and public hospitals are required to have the specific knowledge concerning the use of electronic medical records (EMR) to document patients’ data. This is done t o enhance the ease of retrieval of such data as well as the security to enhance confidentiality. Other than safety and efficiency, the use of technology in medical environment enhances quality and efficiency in achieving health goals and also in minimizing health disparities in the hospital setting ( Chung, Gaynor & Richards-Shubik, 2017 ). If two hospitals of a similar capacity and role merge, the two facilities will share data, and this makes it necessary for them to have an electronic medical record system which will store data and allow easy sharing for both hospitals . The hospitals, however, will have to migrate from having an individual EMR and resort to uniting or possessing a common EMR whose credentials are shared with the two hospitals so that the hospitals have easy and smooth access and retrieval of data.
Project Committee
The success of the implementation of this project is based on the coordination of the interdisciplinary individuals who will be selected as part of the committee to run it. For this project, the certain individuals will be tasked to oversee its implementation. The first will be the advisor who will be selected from an area of discipline such as business management or commerce. The individual will take the position of the management or the managerial role of the hospitals. A legal advisor will deputize the individual. This can be selected from the law discipline or business advisor. The next discipline which is also critical for the committee which will oversee the success of the project is main committee advisor, and this individual will take the position of director. Last is the consultant who can be from any discipline which deals in consultation, commercial, industry, accounting and among others. This individual will be the chief medical consultant for the entire project (Kennedy, 2015). Role and Importance of the Team Members in Forming a Joint Health Information System The manager will have a task of guiding the entire committee towards achieving the primary goal of the project. He or she will be in charge of all activities which will be taking place within the committee to ensure that the project is successful. He or she will be tasked with ensuring the team successfully navigates all the questions relating to EMR system. The deputy who is the advisor will ensure that the manager is given all necessary information with regards to the legal issues which come with the merging the two hospitals. The role of the director of the committee will be to ensure that all the workers involved in this project make quality decisions during the process of coming up with a single health information system. He or she thus will need to have a wide array of knowledge accompanied with vast experience in the field of electronic records, medical management, and business management to be in a position where he or she can properly advise the committee. The last individual is the consultant. This would be an individual who knows health industry and his or her role would be to help in making a decision which is in line with the health industry. These include the cost of merging, potential risk and potential benefits with regards to the health industry. Importance of Interoperability in Health
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In healthcare delivery, interoperability system is critical in many ways. First, interoperability ensures that medical establishments smoothly perform their functions and thus improving their efficiency. The ability of the computers to share data and display them to the staff saves the time consumed in searching and accessing data, a critical factor in the care delivery. Secondly, the security and safety of the patients’ data are much needed in the hospital so that the patients' confidentiality in the hospital is enhanced. Interoperability is central to achieving these goals. Other than this, interoperability allows quick access of patients ’ data in the hospital, and this facilitates faster care delivery and thus eliminates issues such as the long waiting time which is common in most hospitals across the globe. Lastly, with interoperability, the hospitals cut costs associated with legal issues pertaining wrong diagnosis, wrong prescription, and repeated examination. This ensures that health facilities run smoothly. Standardized Nursing Terminology
In every field , there are terminologies which are unique to that particular area which can only be understood by the Profession a l from the same field. Such unique languages are always common and can be understood by the practitioners from the four corners of the world. These terms also exist for nurses, and they are very critical in nursing practices. The first significance of these terminologies to nurses is that it enhances their communication and understanding among them and with other health professionals in different cadres. Also, the nursing terminologies are crucial because they enhance interaction between the nurses and this is critical in care delivery. Further, it is a tool that emphasizes the assessment of the nursing aptitude, and lastly, it enhances the ease at which the information is collected and used in the nursing departments and other departments which operate within the hospital.
Regulatory Requirements That Support Health Information Technology
The first is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH). This promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology .” Second regulatory requirements regarding this issue is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Privacy Rule which requires “HHS to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique health identifiers, and security.”
Components of the Federal Regulatory Requirements
There are different components under the HIPAA. These include the permission granted to the patients to have a copy of the data and also view it. Second is the health information definition as obtained from the primary data usage. On the other hand, the HITECH also have different components. These include the following; “provision of testing, research, and loans for implementation and demonstrations for HIT education, including financial assistance to states and tribes." It further includes the establishment of the office of the national coordinator for health data technology and formation of committees that provide specifications and standards for a HIT.
Potential Security Threats to the Health Information System
There are different possible security threats to the health information system. An example of such threats is the malware and the advanced persistent threats which often goes without being detected even if hospitals have installed signature technology purposely to detect such threats, thus tampering with the data. The common security threat is the medical fraud and the identity threat. These two are regarded as an epidemic in the world with nearly 47% of the cybercrime reported is closely tied to them.
Essential System Features that Guarantee Protection of Patients’ Privacy
Different system features are used to ensure that patient s’ data are stored safely and are secured in the system. The first is the encryption technology. This is one of the most common features used in the hospital. In this case, the patients’ information can only be accessed by the authorized individual who owns an encryption key to the system. The second method which is also very common is the access control technique. In this scenario, the system is secured with features such as password and personal identity numbers. It means that only those who have access to these passwords or the identification numbers can access the data and thus bring about protection.
Industry Standards for Guarding Data Integrity and for Mitigating Risks that Safeguard Health Information Systems
The first industry safeguards are concerned with the physical policies, procedures and measures which are employed in the healthcare facility to physically protect the electronic devices and equipment against unauthorized individuals and the natural hazards (Prophet & Delaney, 2011). The second type of safeguards concerns the administration: these are policies, procedures, and actions which are taken by the administration to ensure that the system is protected. They detect, correct and prevent security violation within the hospital which may tamper with the system.
Nonclinical Applications of Emerging Technology
The introduction of technology in the hospital came with different devices which are nonclinical but are critical in hospital. An example is the smartphones. These have many applications which are critical in a clinical setting. They house medical dictionaries which have all medical terms and are used in the hospital. They have different applications which have clinical procedures and thus help medical personnel. The computer is another device which has an array of uses in a clinical setting. They are used to store data in a hospital. They are also used to aid in the medical electronic system to help in storing, retrieving and protecting patients data. The limitation of such devices is that they can require updating and risk being interfered with and thus prove to be unreliable at the time.
Clinical Applications of Emerging Technology for Assessment and Delivery of Patient Care
One of the clinical applications of merging technology which is used in the assessment and delivery of patient care is the Electronic medical record EMR. In this system, the patient data is entered into the computer and information retrieved directly from another user. They are interlinked, and the clinician can get a direct result from pharmacy or lab to make a decision. The second is the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). The records in the EMR can be exchanged or stored in the NwHIN to help in further research and much more (Dafny, 2014).
References
Chung, A. P., Gaynor, M., & Richards-Shubik, S. (2017). Subsidies and structure: the lasting impact of the Hill-Burton program on the hospital industry. Review of Economics and Statistics , 99 (5), 926-943.
Dafny, L. (2014). Hospital industry consolidation—still more to come?. New England Journal of Medicine , 370 (3), 198-199.
Kennedy, R. (2015). The nursing shortage and the role of technology. Nursing Outlook , 51(3), 33-34.
Prophet , C., & Delaney, C. (2011). Nursing outcomes classification: Implications for nursing information systems and the computer-based patient record. Journal of Nursing Care Quality , 12(5), 21-29.
