How to Choose and Implement a Departmental-Level Information System

Abstract 

Quality healthcare is a necessity for all humans. The World Health Organization and the world governments have come up with initiatives to provide sustainable healthcare to citizens. Healthcare organizations are some of the channels that governments use to provide healthcare to its citizens. As healthcare providers work towards the provision of sustainable healthcare, they face several problems. Some of these issues affect the quality of healthcare that the health organizations provide to their clients. The advancement in technology has come in handy in solving some of the problems that face the health sector. For instance, medical technology has improved service delivery to patients as more advanced medical equipment is used to diagnose and treat various diseases. This research paper will identify one of the problems facing the health sector which can be solved through the implementation of an efficient information management system. The paper will further identify the most appropriate information management system that would solve the problem and discuss its implementation process. The research paper will also identify the various stakeholders that will be involved in the implementation process and suggest the best approach in project management. The research paper will also evaluate the cost of the system setup and identify the operational issues associated with the information system. Lastly, the paper will describe adoptable criteria that can be used to measure the success of the data management system regularly. 

Keywords 

Information Management System; healthcare; cloud-based data systems 

Introduction 

The health sector has significantly benefited from the development of technology. Technology has come in handy in healthcare management. Adaption of technology has improved efficiency in the health sector hence enhancing the quality of care to the patients. One of the tools that have come in handy in the health sector is the information management systems. The efficiency of these systems ensures a flawless service delivery to the patients seeking healthcare. Implementation of new information management systems or enhancement of the existing systems is therefore crucial to a healthcare organization. 

Identification of the Problem in the Healthcare Setting 

One of the major issues facing most healthcare organizations is the inefficiency and errors in the sharing of data among healthcare stakeholders. The healthcare organizations generate massive patient-related data that should be shared with other stakeholders within the health sector. For instance, patients' medical records should be accessible to relevant stakeholders within the health sector to ensure the provision of quality healthcare to the patients (Abdelaziz, Elhoseny, Salama, & Riad, 2018). Also, patient-related data ought to be shared with insurance companies that are responsible for paying for the medical services offered to the patients. 

Sometimes, patients are transferred from one hospital to another or from one health department to another; the patient's treatment records need to be shared with the recipient department or hospital. This ensures that the doctors who take over the case of the patient understand the treatment history of the patient; hence they get an idea of the steps that they should take in the treatment of the patient. The pen and paper approach in sharing of these medical records is still widely used in the modern health sector. This method of sharing patient's data has caused regression within the health industry and it is the genesis of most of the errors that occur in the sharing of the data. The patients are inconvenienced, and sometimes they pay with their life as a result of incidences such as misdiagnosis. The pen and paper method of sharing of data also raises administrative costs for the health providers as well as litigation as a result of the errors and omissions in the sharing of the data. 

The pen and paper method of sharing data is also time-consuming and bureaucratic. The process also makes the patients records vulnerable thus breaching confidentiality and privacy of the patient's data. Sometimes, the inefficiency in the sharing of the patients' data may cause loss of life in the case of urgent and complicated treatment of the patients. The traditional method of sharing data within the health sector also causes delays in the disbursement of funds to the health providers by the health insurance organizations. 

The growing patient-related data makes the management of the data a major problem to most health organizations. The expectation that traditional data management systems will manage the current patients' database is unrealistic. Every day, the pool of data becomes bigger, and the storage and retrieval of the data become more complicated. This has resulted in a significant crisis in the health sector such as lapsed appointments, compromised data security and inappropriate treatment. Adoption of a new and efficient information management system in the health sector would solve this problem. 

Stakeholders Impacted by the Problem 

Several stakeholders are affected by the problem of inefficient patient data sharing. The first group of stakeholders affected is doctors. The doctors require access to a patient's medical data whenever they are treating the patient. The data provides vital information that helps in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. For instance, when a patient is transferred to another hospital, it is the patient's medical records from the releasing doctor that gives the recipient doctor an insight into the patient's medical condition. The second group of stakeholders is health insurance organizations. These organizations require access to the treatment records of the patients so that they can conveniently disburse the payments the health providers. The records provide the health insurance companies with vital information such as the form of treatment offered and the cost of medication given to their clients. 

The third group of stakeholders affected by the problem is the patients. For instance, cases of lapsed appointments have been reported by patients. Also, patients records may be misplaced which would make the patient undergo fresh diagnosis and treatment. This may be not only inconvenient to the patient but may also lead to inappropriate treatment. Lastly, the hospitals as the health providers are also affected by the problem of inefficient patient data sharing. For instance, the hospitals must ensure data security of the patients which is difficult with the traditional data management systems (Sharma, Chen, & Sheth, 2018). Also, the health providers have the responsibility of regularly submitting medical records to the insurance companies to receive payments and the pen and paper approach is not only clumsy but also inefficient. 

Solution to the Problem 

The solution to the problem of patient data management systems is the adoption and implementation of cloud-based data management systems. Cloud-based systems would act as storage locations of the patients' data and medical records where the relevant stakeholders can conveniently retrieve it. The stakeholders would only need to be connected to a network which would enable them to access and retrieve data conveniently and efficiently from the cloud database. The system would provide the stakeholders with timely access to patient-related data such as medical records, diagnoses, and appointments. For instance, implementation of a blockchain-based database would come in handy in the storage and sharing of patients medical data within the health sector (Esposito, De Santis, Tortora, Chang, & Choo, 2018). 

The goal of the cloud-based systems will be to enhance efficiency in the sharing of patient-related data. Also, the systems will ensure that the patients’ data is secure from unwarranted access by unauthorized individuals within the healthcare setting. The cloud-based systems will also ensure quality healthcare is accorded to the patients conveniently hence improve the healthcare experience of the patients (Wang, Kung, & Byrd, 2018). Lastly, the cloud-based systems will help the health care providers to reduce the administrative costs attributed to the use of pen and paper data management systems. The implementation of the cloud-based data management systems in the health sector will enhance the quality of healthcare offered to the people by ensuring efficiency and convenience. 

Costs, Setup, and Operational Issues of Cloud-based Data Management Systems 

In the setup of the new information management system, health organizations should consider several factors. First, the organizations should consider the cost of the infrastructure that is required in setting up a cloud-based data management system. The initial cost of establishing a cloud-based system is higher than the cost of establishing the most traditional data management systems. However, the long term benefits in terms of efficiency and convenience make the cloud-based systems cost-effective in the long run (Kumar, Ramani, Ahmad, Braeken, Harjula, & Ylianttila, 2018). Also, the cloud-based data management ensures privacy and data security which improves the patients’ healthcare experience. 

The implementation of the cloud-based data management systems has its share of operational issues. For instance, health organizations would require hiring skilled personnel to operate the data management systems. Also, the existing staff would need vigorous training that would orient them on the use of new information management systems. This would be expensive at first for most organizations. However, in the long run, the impact of the new system would have astounding benefits to the health organization. 

Project Management Process 

The project management process will involve five critical steps. Several stakeholders will be involved in the implementation of the information system in the organization. 

The first step will be an evaluation of the current data management system in the health organization. This helps to identify the weaknesses of the older system so that the new system can be structured to seal the loopholes left by the old system. The objective of the new system is to ensure that it is more effective than the system already in place. In this step, the patients, doctors, hospitals and the health insurance providers would be critical sources of information that would help identify the weaknesses of the old system. 

The second step is the installation of the new information management system (Cloud-based data management system). This will constitute the purchase and installation of the necessary infrastructure that would ensure the system is up and running. This includes the setup of the hardware and software that support the new information management system (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2017). In this step, the IT manager together with other IT personnel in the health organization plays a vital role in determining the system specifications particular to the needs of the organization. The IT personnel are also critical in the customization of the system and testing its workability. 

The third step will be training the staff on how to operate the new information management system. This is an essential step in the implementation process since it ensures efficient use of the system to the benefit of the organization. Several factors should be considered during the training process. They include; who will conduct the training, the individuals to be trained and the level of training required. The training should aim to equip the staff with skills that will enable them to run the system with efficiency and they should be allowed to practice the skills before the system is launched. 

The fourth step will be the conversion of the data from the old system into the new information management system. Implementation of the new system does not mean that the old data should be discarded. The data need to be incorporated into the new system to ensure no patient misses his or her data. The newly trained staff would be critical in the data conversion stage. The data transformation should be systematic, and the IT personnel have a crucial role in ensuring efficiency is guaranteed (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2017). Once the data is fully converted, the system should then be tested for efficiency to ensure that any technical glitches are rectified before the system is launched. 

The final step I the project management process will be launching the new information management system. A date should be set when the health organization would transit from the old system to the new system. The organization’s management should communicate the details of the new system implementation to all relevant stakeholders to ensure its success. If all the first four steps are well managed, the transition process should be smooth and convenient to all the stakeholders. 

Most Critical Steps in the Implementation Plan 

The most critical step in the implementation plan of the new system is the staff training process. The staffs have a significant role in the implementation of the system and ensuring that the organization’s investment in the new system bears fruit. The training process of the staff is time-consuming and sometimes may be cost intensive to the organization. The fact that the system requires skilled personnel to operate obliges the organization to undertake this time-consuming activity. The conversion of the old data into the new system is also a slow process which is too bulky to most organizations. 

These time-consuming aspects of the project can be managed through the engagement of highly skilled personnel to train the staff on system operations. Also, highly trained personnel can be engaged in the conversion of old data into the new systems. Individuals with adequate knowledge about the system would have ease while navigating the new system hence speedily convert the data. Also, the staff training may continue after the system is launched rather than wait until they are fully and adequately trained. 

Criteria for Measuring System Success 

It is essential to measure the success of the system regularly. The most effective approach would be to communicate the system's success to relevant stakeholders regularly. For instance, the implementation team should regularly communicate their progress to the organization's board of management, the staff and the executive team involved in the project implementation process (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2017). This will give the stakeholders an opportunity to point out the flaws in the implementation process. Their views and opinions are crucial to the implementation team since they provide an insight into the effectiveness of the system. 

Conclusion 

The training of the staff would still be needed after the system is launched. This would equip them with more skills to run the cloud-based data management system. Technology is dynamic; hence the systems software and hardware would need to be regularly updated. This would necessitate the continued training of the staff to ensure their skills are compliant with the needs of the new information management system. 

References 

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Branch, A., Hastings, R. P., Beverley, M., & Hughes, J. C. (2018). Increasing support staff fluency with the content of behaviour support plans: An application of precision teaching. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 43(2), 213-222. 

Esposito, C., De Santis, A., Tortora, G., Chang, H., & Choo, K. K. R. (2018). Blockchain: A panacea for healthcare cloud-based data security and privacy?. IEEE Cloud Computing, 5(1), 31-37. 

Kumar, T., Ramani, V., Ahmad, I., Braeken, A., Harjula, E., & Ylianttila, M. (2018, September). Blockchain Utilization in Healthcare: Key Requirements and Challenges. In 2018 IEEE 20th International Conference on e-Health Networking, Applications and Services (Healthcom) (pp. 1-7). IEEE. 

Sharma, S., Chen, K., & Sheth, A. (2018). Toward practical privacy-preserving analytics for iot and cloud-based healthcare systems. IEEE Internet Computing, 22(2), 42-51. 

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons. 

Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, 3-13.