Health Information System Implementation
Health Information System Implementation
Complete a Vila Health interactive simulation in which you will develop a high-level plan, 4-6 pages in length, for implementing a new or upgraded health information system.
Introduction
Note: The assessments in this course build upon the work you have completed in the previous assessments. Therefore, complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.
Part of your job as a health administrator is to make decisions about health care information systems, specifically in terms of how and when to upgrade or implement a completely new system. Leaders must be able to apply project management best practices in developing an implementation plan, in which they identify and document the key steps involved in such a project.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to develop a high-level implementation plan for a new or upgraded health information system.
Overview and Preparation
Note: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
The following resources are required to complete the assessment:
APA Style Paper Template [DOCX].
Use this template for your implementation plan.
Vila Health: Health Care Information System Implementation.
This multimedia simulation will enable you to practice acquiring and analyzing key information, assessing business needs, identifying necessary resources, and determining a timeline for installing a new system or upgrading the existing system at one of Vila Health’s new acquisitions.
Vila Health is considering either upgrading its current system or implementing a new one. No matter what the final decision is, as an administrator, you must be prepared for a major overhaul or change to the health information system at Vila Health.
The chief operations officer has asked you to prepare an executive summary explaining each key step involved in developing an implementation plan, including a process and timeline to collect and analyze data, generate reports, facilitate decision making, and determine the resource requirements for a health information system (HIS).
Complete the Vila Health: Health Care Information System Implementation interactive simulation. Gather preliminary information that will allow you to develop a process and timeline for a health care information system project. You may also wish to review the previous Vila Health simulations for additional information.
In addition, you may also wish to use the Capella University Library to explore topics relevant to project management for HIS implementation.
Requirements
Develop a high-level plan for implementing a new or upgraded health information system.
Note: Remember that you can submit all—or a portion of—your draft plan to Smarthinking for feedback, before you submit the final version for this assessment. If you plan on using this free service, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback.
Document Format and Length
Format your implementation plan using APA style.
Use the APA Style Paper Template [DOCX]. An APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] is also provided to help you in writing and formatting your plan. Be sure to include:
A title page and references page. An abstract is not required.
Appropriate section headings.
Your implementation plan should be 4–6 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.
Supporting Evidence
Cite at least two sources of credible scholarly or professional evidence to support your plan.
Executive Summary
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your implementation plan addresses each point, at a minimum. You may also want to read the HIS Implementation Scoring Guide to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.
Outline a plan for collecting and analyzing data.
What data do you need to collect and analyze?
What are the likely sources of that data?
How do you plan to analyze the data?
Propose criteria for evaluating organizational needs.
What evidence do you have that supports your proposed criteria?
Outline a plan for generating reports.
What information should be communicated to decision makers?
When, and how often, should reports be generated?
Identify the personnel and logistics needed to carry out the implementation plan.
What are the key project requirements and considerations?
How will you justify the needs you have identified?
Propose a project timeline.
What assumptions underlie your timeline?
Consider areas of uncertainty or lack of information that could lead to delays and missed deadlines.
What contingencies should you account for?
Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting.
Express your main points and conclusions coherently.
Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your plan.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 3: Incorporate project management principles into health care administration management and leadership.
Outline a plan for collecting and analyzing data.
Propose criteria for evaluating organizational needs.
Outline a plan for generating reports.
Identify the personnel and logistics needed to carry out an implementation plan.
Propose a project timeline.
Competency 6: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting.
The resources provided here are suggested and provide helpful information about topics relevant to the assessment. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The MHA Program Library Guide can help direct your research.
The following resources provide useful context, examples, and recommendations for EHR implementations:
Daly, R. (2016). The EHR evolution: New priorities and implementation challenges. Healthcare Financial Management, 70(2), 44–50.
Discusses a successful EHR implementation in one health care system and its addition of a home health care component.
Dolezel, D., & Moczygemba, J. (2015). Implementing EHRs: An exploratory study to examine current practices in migrating physician practice. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 12, 1–6.
Addresses the question of how much clinical data from old paper records needs to be transferred to EHR systems in physician practices.
Restuccia, J. D., Cohen, A. B., Horwitt, J. N., & Shwartz, M. (2012). Hospital implementation of health information technology and quality of care: Are they related? BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 12, 1–8.
Examines the association of health information technologies with activities aimed at improving care quality and with several quality performance measures.
HealthIT.gov. (2013). How to implement EHRs. https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/ehr-implementation-steps
This Web site presents a recommended six-step process for EHR implementation.
Health Information System Implementation Scoring Guide
CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED
Outline a plan for collecting and analyzing data. Does not outline a plan for collecting and analyzing data. Outlines a plan for collecting and analyzing data that is impracticable or unlikely to yield limited data for analysis. Outlines a plan for collecting and analyzing data. Outlines a plan for collecting and analyzing data. Provides a concise and well-articulated outline that identifies specific data needs and a clear approach to analysis.
Propose criteria for evaluating organizational needs. Does not propose criteria for evaluating organizational needs. Proposes criteria for evaluating organizational needs that may lead to erroneous conclusions. Proposes criteria for evaluating organizational needs. Proposes criteria for evaluating organizational needs, and provides relevant, credible evidence that clearly validates the proposed criteria.
Outline a plan for generating reports. Does not outline a plan for generating reports. Outlines a plan for generating reports that is impracticable or unlikely to provide all of the information necessary to support sound decision making. Outlines a plan for generating reports. Outlines a plan for generating reports. Provides a concise and well-articulated outline that establishes clear expectations for stakeholders regarding the information they will receive.
Identify the personnel and logistics needed to carry out an implementation plan. Does not identify the resources and logistics needed to carry out an implementation plan. Overlooks key considerations or identifies resources where the need is unclear. Identifies the personnel and logistics needed to carry out an implementation plan. Identifies the personnel and logistics needed to carry out an implementation plan. Provides a comprehensive, perceptive, and justifiable needs assessment based on specific project requirements.
Propose a project timeline. Does not propose a project timeline. Proposes a project timeline based on unrealistic time estimates. Proposes a project timeline. Proposes a project timeline that explicitly acknowledges underlying assumptions and identifies the factors that could significantly alter the proposed timeline.
Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting. Does not write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting. Writing is unclear and disorganized, includes errors in grammar and mechanics that inhibit effective communication, or contains incorrect or improperly formatted source citations and references. Writes clearly and concisely, using correct grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting. Writes clearly and concisely. Grammar, mechanics, and APA formatting are error-free.
Health Information System Implementation
The implementation of health information systems is a top priority in many health care organizations across the globe. The health information policy agenda has been at the forefront internationally. However, these undertakings are always hard to achieve as they need complex strategy planning that accompanies the systematic information change in health care (Jeyakumar et al., 2021). Extensive and transformative implementation of the health information system is now taking place in many health care organizations. The objective is that human, financial, and organizational assets align with the current technology. Example of this technology includes electronic prescribing, electronic health records, telehealth, and related technologies that aid in streamlining health care processes to improve quality, the efficiency of care, and safety. Vila health would like to implement a new EHR system to meet the clinic’s quality and safety. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to complete the Vila health information implementation plan.
Data Collection and Analysis
The implementation of EHR at Vila health needs an accurate collection of data and analysis that would aid in the effective installation of the new EHR system at the clinic. Implementing EHR can be difficult if an organization gets the process wrong. The increase in accuracy in implementation would allow all the systems in health care to gain the ability to welcome and appreciate the new system. Therefore, nurses, doctors, and all health care workers at Vila health would have to complete a survey that would aid the implementation team in realizing the need for the new system in the clinic (Jeyakumar et al., 2021). The collection of information for all the Vila health workers would be important in understanding how to implement the implementation process in a manner that suits all clinicians. The new system is bound to change many operations at the clinic. Therefore, obtaining the perception of these clinic workers would be imperative in designing the implementation process to meet the clinic’s needs.
HITECH Act Merit
This Act is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 that creates incentives linked to the information technology in healthcare, including the use of the EHR system that Vila health would be implementing. This Act expands electronically protected health information (ePHI) as it heightens privacy and security protection under the HIPAA guidelines. This would allow Vila health to increase the legal liability of its non-compliance, and employees get to understand the enforcement actions that come from such violations. Besides, HITECH Act would allow Vila to impose data breach notification needed for unauthorized uses and disclosure of unsecured PHI.
Interoperability requirement
Interoperability programs encourage hospitals and EPs to implement, adopt, demonstrate and upgrade the meaningful use of the CEHRT. It establishes the electronic capture of clinical data requirements and ensures meaningful use of EHRs among professionals (Cresswell et al., 2020). The value-based modifiers (VPM) will be used to provide a differential payment to the physician under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) based on the quality of care compared to the cost of care of the performance. Besides, the end-user onboarding and training would be carried out before the testing of the new system to ensure that users comprehend effective ways of operating the system.
Best Practices for EMR system Implementation
According to the CMS guidelines, the implementation would start from conducting the current workflow at Vila health in each department for three or four days. This process would entail definingthe needs and preferences of having EHR at Vila to operate in the next one to three months. The needs would include hardware and software needs as well as training of the users. Education of the staff would go for one month, and the plan for complete roll-out from go-live to complete adoption would take about eight months. Testing the EHR system would be necessary as it ensures data files are loading correctly (Jeyakumar et al., 2021). Besides, testing the scope and environment required would show the infrastructural, training, and configuration readiness.
- Required Environment and Testing Scope
Testing the scope and environment required would show the infrastructural, training, and configuration readiness. Most of the health care information procurements rely on assumed benefits. This always results in complications on the agreement on shared vision across the health care organization. The testing required at Vila health would include evaluation of the printers, workstations, security measures, wireless devices, and servers. This part of the preparation would also include testing the workflows, processes, and areas in need of clinical record design. The tests would be carried out using patient data but on a different database section that is not in production. The testing aims to mimic how the system would behave when it goes live.
- Building Consensus
The professional, management and administrative staff must agree on the new system and approve its implementation process. For instance, the implementation team would need to build the aims of the clinic around the strategic vision and create the goals of the clinic based on the proposed new system. Strategic leadership and administration are vital in the success of the proposed plan. Besides, it is essential to involve and get the buy-in of different professionals at the clinic. For instance, doctors, managers, administrative staff, and nurses need complete involvement with the team to ensure commitment and facilitate co-ownership of the new system (Jeyakumar et al., 2021). This balance would best be attained through the development of a high-level strategic unit that does not only include the senior management at Vila health but also administrativeand clinical leaders representing various end-user groups.
An important factor that the clinic would keep in mind is that all the attempts to align the perspectives by building consensus activities require skilled professionals. One approach would be to identify domains with extensive agreement from professionals and different stakeholders. Promoting the participation of different groups would come from the active involvement of these professionals in all the stages of implementation (Jeyakumar et al., 2021). This process would be important in achieving a coordinated implementation effort of the new system. For instance, nurses would require different needs as those of the doctors. However, all the group would tend to agree that achieving high standards of care should be the focus of most activities in the plan.
- Control Procedures
After establishing the need for the new technological system at Vila health, it is essential to allocate control measures as well as resources that would favor the entireimplementation process. The clinic would need to have information on a wide range of system providers and connect with the potential suppliers who understand the values and ethos of the organization (Jin, 2018). Vila health would decide on the need to develop a long-term relationship with the service providers to ensure the effective functioning of the new system. Besides, visiting other healthcare settings that have implemented the new system in the past would as well prove helpful in the implementation process.
Once an available commercial system like Electronic Health Records has been appraised, it is important to reflect on customizing the system to meet the local needs of the clinic. EHR provides numerous options of customization, allowing Vila health to design the new system to align with its current operations and meet the needs of its patients. The increased opportunity to customize the new system would as would affect the value of the system by reducing the cost of operating the clinic (Jin, 2018). This process would positively impact the cost of health care at Vila Health.
- Evaluation
After the complete implementation of the new system, there is a need to receive formative feedback on the new system’s operation. The analysis of the feedback would allow the management to redesign the new system to meet the desired needs of the company (Cresswell et al., 2020). Besides, the evaluation process provides the actual value of the new system at system. The evaluation would start from assessing the existing and anticipated workflows, monitoring the desired and undesired outcomes, and tracking new innovative ways of operating the new system.
Timeline
The entire implementation of the HER system at Villa health would take 13 months. In the first three days, an evaluation of the current workflow of the clinic will be performed by the selected experts. Training of the users and identification of needs and preferences of the organizations would take about three months. In fourth month, the team would begin testing the EHR, its scope, and the required environment. This exercise would go for two months. In the 6th month, the plan for complete roll-out from go-live to complete adoption would take about eight months
Conclusion
Implementing EHR health information at Vila health requires effective preparation for the new system. The clinic’s professional team needs to understand some of the tiny loopholes required to implement the new system. However, effective communication and collaboration with the IT team would help implement the new system. The need to develop a communication channels where all employees at the clinic can learn the new system and how it would affect the current operation of the clinic.
References
Cresswell, K., Williams, R., & Sheikh, A. (2020). Developing and applying a formative evaluation framework for health information technology implementations: qualitative investigation. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(6), e15068. https://doi.org/10.2196/15068
Jeyakumar, T., McClure, S., Lowe, M., Hodges, B., Fur, K., Javier-Brozo, M., … & Wiljer, D. (2021). An Education Framework for Effective Implementation of a Health Information System: Scoping Review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(2), e24691. https://doi.org/10.2196/24691
Jin, Z. (2018). Research and Implementation of Regional Health Information System for Smart Healthcare. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 2(3), 1-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.29422%2fjocem.2018.03.001