A.
1.
Technology in application healthcare is the opportunity I choose to identity from a previous performance assessment.
2.
Manger is the professional lens I have decided to use.
3.
Implement Digital Radiography System in the radiology department of the hospital and digitize the current hard copy films that is stored at the hospital.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
4.
a.
The hard copy x-ray images are stored in the storage room of the hospital and is accessed as needed by retrieving it and stored back once the use for it is done.
i.
The file room employees are currently in charge of storing and retrieving the hard copy x-ray films as needed. Once the technologists have developed them, they hand it over to the employees that work in the file room to be stored.
ii.
First step- The hard copy x-ray film is developed by the technologist that performs the procedure.
Second step- Once technologist has made sure the x-ray image is within the optimal quality they will then put the hard copy x-ray image in a folder that has patients’ information on it and hand it over to one of the file room employee that work in the file room.
Third step- The file room employee will take the hard copy x-ray films to the radiologist dictation room for interpretation of the study. The radiologist will make his impression of the study on his computer and will print a hard copy of the impression as well to be included in the folder that has the x-ray images.
Fourth step- The file room employee will then take that folder that includes hard copy x-ray images and the report from the radiologist to the storage area where other alike folders are stored in alphabetic order.
Fifth step (applies only when requested)- When another doctor or patients request a certain x-ray that has been stored in the storage room. The file room employee will retrieve it and make a copy if it is needed for the requested party and will take it back to the storage once the necessary purpose has been served for the retrieval.
iii.
There are two major constraints with the current process. The time it takes to store and retrieve the hard copy x-ray images is first constraint. The second constraint is the space running out to store the hard copy x-ray images and the cost the hospital will have to incur for additional storage space.
iv.
One of the risk factors with the current process is that the file room employee storing the hard copy x-ray films could accidently put it in the wrong patient folder. Another risk with the current process is the potential of losing or folders all together. The final risk is degraded quality of the hard copy x-ray images due to it being in storage for a long period of time.
5.
a.
Converting to digital radiography storage system will resolve the risks and constraints like reducing the time to store and retrieve the hard copy x-ray image. Because there will be no need to walk down to the storage to do perform either actions.
i.
First step- The x-ray technologist performs the procedure to obtain the x-ray image on a digital x-ray reader that has the patient information the technologist already has entered in.
Second step- The technologist will transfer that image from the digital image reader to a computer that has PACS (picture archiving communication system) already installed on it.
Third step- The technologist will review the images on the computer with the use of PACS and will make sure the x-ray image is within the optimal quality.
Fourth step- The technologist will then put the x-ray study in a status that states it is ready for an interpretation from a radiologist with the use of the PACS.
Fifth step- The radiologist will make their interpretation of the x-ray image study with the use of the PACS. Once the interpretation has been made on the x-ray image. The x-ray image and interpretation will then be automatically stored on the PACS system under the patient information.
Sixth step (applies only when requested)- If a doctor or patient ever needs to access the digital x-ray image or the radiologist’s interpretation. They could do so by requesting to a file room employees. The file room employee could retrieve it by using PACS instantly by entering in the patient information.
ii.
The constraints with this new process is the time it will take to train the x-ray technologists, file room employees, radiologist and other doctors that may need access to PACS in order to view or do what is necessary to the images that is stored in PACS under their scope of practice. Another constraint is the time it will take to digitize the stored hard copy x-ray images and transfer it to PACS.
iii.
One of the risks with this new process is the potential of a cyber-attack. The bigger the cyber-attack the bigger the damage. It could range from losing all the stored images to patient information being stolen. Another risk with the new process is the failure of PACS. If PACS fails most of the procedures in the radiology department will come to a halt until the PACS issue is resolved.
iv.
This new process will help patients with getting their x-ray images and interpretations much faster than the old process. Because the time has been reduced exponentially for the file room employees to retrieve the images and interpretations. The new process will also help external doctor’s offices by having access to images and the interpretations remotely if they have been granted permission to do so.
6.
a.
Defining stage- During this phase the scope will be presented. The actual changes the organization trying to establish will be described and defined. Implementing PACS in the radiology department.
Planning stage- During this phase all the steps that is necessary to be completed, in order to implement the change will be described.
Describe the project scope & milestones
Identify the Work Breakdown Structure
Set and agree the target delivery dates
Monitor and control the allocation of resource
Report on the progress of the project to the members of the board
Execute- During this phase most of the work to implement the change will be done along with user training. PACS will be installed on all the computer devices that will be used to operate the system.
Closing- This is the last phase to complete the implementation. The team will evaluate if the change they wanted to implement was successful. At this phase all the loose ends will be tied up along with an evaluation to see if the change was sustained will be also done at this phase.
i.
Physicians- This stakeholders role includes the doctors that will be using PACS to view radiological images and the radiologists that use it to make their impressions on the radiological images.
Clinical Staff- This stakeholders role includes the technologists that uses PACS to view the radiological images and make adjustments, if necessary and then puts the study in a status where a radiologist could make their impressions on that radiological study.
Nonclinical Staff- This stakeholders role includes file room staff that retrieves the radiological images and reports if a doctor or patient ever needs to access the digital x-ray image or the radiologist’s interpretation.
ii.
PACS (picture archiving and communication system) is a medical imaging technology used primarily in healthcare organizations to securely store and digitally transmit electronic images and relevant reports. The use of PACS eliminates the need to manually file and store, retrieve and send sensitive information, hard copy of x-ray images and reports. Instead, medical documentation and images can be securely housed in off-site servers or onsite servers and be safely accessed.
PACS has four major components: hardware imaging machines; a secure network for the distribution and exchange of patient images; a workstation or mobile device for viewing, processing, and interpreting images; and electronic archives for storing and retrieving images and related documentation and reports.
PACS has four main uses.
. The technology replaces the need for hard-copy films and management of storage.
Allows for remote access, enabling clinicians in different physical locations to review the same data simultaneously.
Offers an electronic platform for images interfacing with other medical automation systems such as a hospital information system (HIS), electronic health record ( EHR ), and radiology information system ( RIS ).
Allows radiologists and other radiology and medical personnel to manage the workflow of patient exams
iii.
On-the-job training , employees learn by practicing and performing the changes that was implemented. This type of training encourages hands on learning, so employees will learn more quickly and won’t have to take time of from work to receive training. This way it won’t impact the workflow due to fewer staff scheduled to work either. This way can also help employees feel at ease when it comes to training, because any concerns, mistakes or questions could be addressed and resolved as it occurs. The only thing management need keep in consideration is to make sure that there are enough trainers available for the staff to be trained sufficiently.
iv.
Training employees is an operational consideration because sometimes the initial costs of training employees can seem astronomical. But, successfully training employees can end up saving you money in the long run. Not only successful training can lead to more revenue, it can also improve employee retention.
v.
One of the monetary costs acquired by implementing PACS is the cost to purchase the system. A simple system for a small practice can cost around $5,000 while a complex system for a large medical group can easily top $100,000. A non-monetary cost acquired by implementing PACS is the time it will take to train all the necessary employees to operate system independently.
b.
i.
The Gantt Chart
The chart 1.0 below shows the Gantt chart for the implementation of the Digital Radiography System.
Chart 1.0
The Gantt Chart for Digital Radiography System Implementation
As noted in the above Gantt chart, the defining stage would take one month (28 days) and it would entail defining the scope, processing of documentation and the approval of the project by the stakeholders. The planning stage will take two months while the execution stage will also take 2 and half months.
ii. Collaboration with the Stakeholders on the Context of Strategy Implementation.
The stakeholders will be notified on the progress of the project on weekly basis. They will also be given the opportunity to react to certain issues concerning the project implementation with keen attention to improving it and ensuring that it serves its purpose. Additionally, there is need to collaborate with the stakeholders in aspects of the cost control. There could be instances where the project implementors might want an increase in the funds required for the installation and this must be done in consultation with the stakeholders across the board who would approve the addition of funds across the board.
7. Develop a Solution Monitoring and Control Plan
a. The best method of measurement and collection of performance data in this project would be mixed methods where we give much attention to both the qualitative and quantitative data into the general analysis of the performance of the new digital system of radiology. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews will be carried out among the patients who use the new platform as well as the staff in the radiology department. Additionally, the data on customer turnaround time when it comes to data retrieval will be collected and analyzed statistically. This data would be compared before and after implementation of the digital radiography system (PAC) into the hospital. Further, the perceptions and views of various employees and patients on the performance of the new system will be analyzed to inform on its effectiveness in improving the patient’s outcome as well as the service delivery.
b. The data from the interviews and other secondary sources about the new system will be analyzed through the use SPSS statistical package Version 26. This statistical tool will help develop performance reports which would provide insights on the authenticity of the new system as well ad its impact in improve the healthcare service delivery in the hospital.
c. The major channel of communication with the stakeholders will be to develop the daily, weekly and monthly reports on the progress of the project and share through seminars, video conferencing as well as company emails across the board. The project managers would therefore, have the responsibility of coming up with such reports as scheduled to help the other stakeholder be abreast with any developments in the project.
d. In the quest to support ongoing monitoring the project control plan, it is important to have qualified professional staff who would help in the monitoring the performance across the board and advising on the same. Additionally, enough funds would be needed to help in the acquisition of the pertinent resources that would be crucial in managing the project.
