Introduction
Upgrade of the health organization’s software system is essential in benefiting both the clients and health care service providers by improving the efficacy of service delivery. It is also beneficial in maintaining possible risks to the minimum. This proposal is meant to justify the need for the organization’s software upgrade to the latest version that would effectively achieve organizational goals in compliance with the external driving forces that should be adhered to. The proposal is also considerate of the basic ethical requirements for all health care organizations. Finally, the proposal presents the risks of not accepting the new proposal and the benefits of the new software upgrade to the entire organization.
Driving Forces
Major external driving forces that make it absolutely necessary to adopt the latest software upgrade include:
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Federal law requirement- the federal law and regulations requires all modern clinics and health care facilities to adopt the use of latest technology in the process of service delivery. Additionally, the federal law requires all health care centers in the country to uphold patient safety through patient protection, confidentiality, and provision of patient-centered health care services ( Shaw, et. al ., 2014).
Requirements by the US Department of Health and Human Services office for civil rights- this department require the use of emergent technology in the dissemination of health care services as well as protection of all patients from any potential harm. The department also requires all health care centers in the country to conform to the civil rights, including the rights of access to quality medical services ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).
Other driving forces include the need to comply with the use of emergent technology in order to reduce the workload and improve the quality and efficiency of health care service delivery, the need to meet patients’ needs for a more efficient health information technology system that would allow them to directly access health care services at their easiest convenience and the need to achieve the standards of health care services used in other nearby health care centers.
Ethical Considerations driving the proposal
This proposal seeks to fulfill a number of ethical principles and regulations of an efficient health care system. The core ethical considerations include:
Patient protection- this is an ethical requirement for all patients regardless of their differences in gender, race, occupation and status. All patients must be protected from any potential harm at all times ( Bayer, Santelli & Klitzman, 2015) .
Confidentiality - this is an ethical principle requiring that information regarding the patient’s health status be kept confidential and should only be made known to the patient and the physician or doctor without involving any other party ( Bayer, Santelli & Klitzman, 2015) .
Anonymity - This principle is mostly applicable while dealing with several patients’ data or during research in health care. In such circumstances that require revelation of patient data, patients’ names should be concealed ( Smith, Hiatt & Berwick, 1999) .
These ethical regulations can easily be adhered to if the current software system is upgraded to the latest system that can more efficiently and effectively allow physicians to conform to these regulations.
Risks associated with not accepting my proposal
Declining to accept this proposal for the software upgrade would result in the following consequences to the organization, patients and employees:
There is likely to be incidences of hacking of the organization’s information system which in turn would lead to the violation of the above ethical principles. This would lead to consistent consequences such as loss of employment for the concerned employees followed by conviction in the court of law as detailed in the federal law ( Shaw, et. al ., 2014). It would also dissipate the reputation of our organization leading to the reduced number of clients which means that the income will also drop significantly.
If this proposal is not implemented, there are chances that other clinics which are willing to upgrade their software systems will improve their performance and accord the patients better services and more opportunities for information access while our own organization will lag behind in terms of service delivery. This would make it difficult to coordinate and collaborate with other organizations. In turn our clients will opt for health care services from other clinics. Lastly, failing to conform to the standards of the federal law would lead to withdrawal of government support as a means of punishment and this is likely to make management and running of our organization difficult.
Employees will still experience the burden of a huge workload characterized by the current software system, when they have an opportunity to reduce their workload by accepting the software system upgrade.
Therefore, there is immense need to upgrade our software system to the latest standard to avoid these consequences and instead, improve on the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of our service delivery.
How the upgrade will benefit the entire organization
Adopting the upgrade of our software system is of much benefit to the entire organization by facilitating the process of management. It would become easier to monitor and evaluate the performance of all employees in relation to their performance. This would intern make it easier to identify challenges that the staff faces and address them effectively in such ways as recruiting the new staff to fill the gaps identified.
Generally, the quality of service delivery would go up as all employees will be using the best systems to discharge services. The latest system would significantly relieve employees of the heavy workload that reduces the speed of work and quality of service delivery. This would in turn lead to client satisfaction, which is one of the goals of our organization.
Security would also be enhanced as patient data will be more protected than it is currently the case. Incidences of hacking would be reduced to the barest minimum. This would effectively ensure that the above stated ethical principles are upheld. In so doing, every employee would be protected and they would be assured of their job security.
To experience these benefits and many others, it is imperative that the suggestion for the organization’s software upgrade be accepted among the staff. The overall outcome would be effective achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives.
Conclusion
In summary, there is need to upgrade the existing organization’s software system to the latest version as required by the federal law, the US Department of Health and Human Services and other driving forces such as the need to comply to the latest standards of health care service delivery. This proposal would also ensure easy compliance to the basic ethical principles in health care such as patient protection, confidentiality and anonymity. Declining to accept the proposal would result in a number of negative consequences such as hacking of the organization’s software system and reduced quality of service delivery. On the other hand, accepting the proposal would benefit the entire organization in such ways as improving security performance and patient satisfaction. Generally, there is need to upgrade the organization’s software system.
References
Bayer, R., Santelli, J., & Klitzman, R. (2015). New challenges for electronic health records: confidentiality and access to sensitive health information about parents and adolescents. Jama , 313 (1), 29-30.
Shaw, F. E., Asomugha, C. N., Conway, P. H., & Rein, A. S. (2014). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: opportunities for prevention and public health. The Lancet , 384 (9937), 75-82.
Smith, R., Hiatt, H., & Berwick, D. (1999). Shared ethical principles for everybody in health care: a working draft from the Tavistock Group. BMJ (Clinical research ed.) , 318 (7178), 248-251.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). HHS.gov. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.hhs.gov/