Health Information Technology Project

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In previous Discussions and Applications, you have explored various aspects of health information technology systems: the historic development of HIT, how data flows across HIT systems, and standards and interoperability requirements including specific terminologies used in your practice setting. In this Application Assignment, you will have the opportunity to further develop your analysis skills by closely examining the implementation of a health information technology system. As a Doctorally prepared nurse, you may find yourself in the position of leading a HIT project team; to be an effective leader and move health information technology projects forward in your organization, you must be able to logically and critically analyze the many aspects and challenges of implementing such a system and then present your insights in a succinct and professional manner. This exercise provides an opportunity to hone those skills.

Carefully review the project requirements below and plan your time accordingly. Be sure to refer to the standards of nursing informatics practice as you develop this Application, which serves as your Major Assessment for this course.

To prepare:

  • Investigate      a health information technology (HIT) system or health information      technology application in your area of interest. The health information      technology system/application may be in any setting where health care      information is developed or managed. You may choose your system or      application from any organization or virtual environment.
  • Examples       of health information technology systems or health information technology       applications that are acceptable include but are not limited to:
  • Consumer        health applications
  • Clinical        information systems
  • Electronic        medical record (EMR) systems in hospitals or provider offices (SELECT THIS or)
  • Home        health care applications
  • School        health applications
  • Patient        portal/personal health record (or SELECT THIS)
  • Public        health information systems
  • Telehealth        (i.e., from facility to home)
  • Simulation        laboratories
  • Health        care informatics research and development centers
  • Discuss      your proposed health information technology system/application with your      Instructor before proceeding with your final selection. You may visit a      health care organization in person or virtually in order to make your      final choice about the health information technology system or health      information technology application of interest.
  • Choose      the best strategy to gain information about your selected information      technology system/application. Some ways to gather information include      virtual visits; vendor demonstrations; on-site visits; interviews via      face-to-face, phone, or teleconference. You must conduct at least one      interview for this project.
  • Complete      a literature search to gather information about your selected information      technology system. You may also need to review related scholarly articles      to help answer the questions presented below.

NOTE: In your submitted report, do not share proprietary information, personal names, or organization names without permission.

To complete:

Your deliverable is a 12- to 15-page scholarly report, not counting the title page or references. Include an introduction ending with a purpose statement and a conclusion. A successful report should leave the reader with confidence in understanding the answers to all the questions listed below. Graphics may be used to illustrate key points.

Organization Information

1) Briefly describe the health information technology system/application and the organization type (hospital, clinic, public health agency, health care software company, government health information website, private virtual health information site, etc.).

2) Is the health information technology system/application clinical, administrative, educational, or research related?

3) What were the key reasons for the development of this health information technology system/application, i.e., what made the organization believe this system/application was needed? How did this organization determine those needs? Did the organization use specific tools to conduct needs assessments, staff opinions, or workflows?

4) How did the organization determine that this specific system/application could fulfill its predetermined needs?

5) Who manages this health information technology system/application and where are they located within the organization’s administrative structure?

Information System Application Design and Development

1) Many health care systems have multiple independent entities that work together toward the common goal of providing high-quality care. How did—and do—the various stakeholders make decisions related to this health information technology system/application? Were the end users involved in the development of this health information technology system/application?

2) How are individuals trained to use the health information technology system/application?

3) How are security issues addressed? How does this health information technology system/application support a legally sound health care record?

4) Where did initial funds for this health information technology system/application come from?

5) Who manages the budget for this health information technology system/application?

6) Have organizational or political issues impacted the ongoing funding for this health information technology system/application?

7) What are the arrangements for planned or unplanned downtime?

8) How are health information technology system/application upgrades scheduled or planned?

9) How has the health information technology system/application changed in response to health care reform and related legislation?

10) What suggestions could you make regarding changes needed to support health care reform and related legislation?

Innovative Aspects of the System

1) How does the health information technology system/application utilize technology innovations?

2) What technology innovations would you recommend for this organization? What innovations presented in this course, or found through your own research, could this organization benefit from?

3) What innovations could further promote evidence-based practice and efficiency within this organization?

End Product

Your report is a scholarly paper and needs to include a minimum of 10 citations from peer-reviewed journals. Every statement made in a scholarly report must be supported by a reference. Be very cautious when stating your opinion, or using terms suggesting absolute facts, or values, as these must be supported by references. Note that textbooks, including the course texts, are composed of information cited from other sources (see the reference section in the course textbooks). With this in mind, there should be an adequate number of appropriate references (a minimum of 10). Please note that primary sources are to be used. Peer-reviewed journal articles should make up the bulk of your references (90%). If referring to a book, be sure to include all information in APA style, including specific page numbers when necessary. Note that an article referred to in a book is a secondary source. More on this topic is available in the APA Publication Manual and in the  Writing Center. See also “Policies on Academic Honesty” listed at the website.

A superior paper demonstrates breadth and depth of knowledge, and critical thinking appropriate for doctoral level scholarship. The report must follow APA Publication Manual guidelines (6th edition) and be free of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. This Application is the Major Assessment for this course. You will submit this document by Day 5 Friday of Week 9. By 9:00 AM

REQUIRED READINGS

Course Text: Ball, M. J., Douglas, J. V., Hinton Walker, P., DuLong, D., Gugerty, B., Hannah, K. J., . . . Troseth, M. R. (Eds.) (2011). Nursing informatics: Where technology and caring meet (4th ed.). London, England: Springer-Verlag.

  • Review      Chapter 16, “Personal Health Record: Managing Personal Health”

This chapter focuses on the future of personal health records and consumerism, as well as the initiatives being developed to strengthen health literacy in the patient population. The nurse’s role in the development of personal health records is also discussed.

Reti, S. R., Feldman, H. J., Ross, S. E., & Safran, C. (2010). Improving personal health records for patient-centered care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 17(2), 192–195. 

Several key elements that designers and practitioners need to be aware of when developing patient-centered electronic health records are outlined in this article.

Schneider, J. M. (2010). Electronic and personal health records: VA’s key to patient safety. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 14(1), 12–22.

This article begins with a brief overview of the benefits and challenges of EHRs and moves into an exemplary example of the record systems currently being used at the VA.

Wagner, P. J., Howard, S. M., Bentley, D. R., Seol, Y., & Sodomka, P. (2010). Incorporating patient perspectives into the personal health record: Implications for care and caring. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 7(Fall), 1–12.

Within this study, the authors integrate patients into a preexisting personal health record system to analyze the overall feelings that patients have about its design and usability options.

Madsen, M. (2010). Knowledge and information modeling. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 84-103.

Within this article, the overall design models of information systems are linked to the metastructures, data, information, knowledge, and wisdom.

Peleg, M. (2011). The role of modeling in clinical information system development life cycle. Methods of Information in Medicine, 50(1), 7-10.

The author of this article discusses the role of conceptual modeling in health information technology systems and how it has been an effective component of system development.

Philip, A., Afolabi, B., Adeniran, O., Oluwatolani, O., & Ishaya, G. (2010). Towards an efficient information systems development process and management: A review of challenges and proposed strategies. Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, 3(10), 983-989.

This article examines the phases and methodologies found within the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and proposes a framework for establishing the crucial roles that participants must play during the SDLC.

Schlotzer, A., & Madsen, M. (2010). Health information systems: Requirements and characteristics. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 156–166.

Use this article to examine the importance of focusing on sound design, interoperability of systems, and fulfillment of user needs when developing an effective database.

Munih, M., & Bajd, T. (2010). VI.3. Rehabilitation robotics. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 152, 353–366.

In this article, the authors delve into the future of rehabilitation by examining the ways that virtual reality and robotics will transform exercise and management systems used by physical therapists.

Nolan, R. P., Upshur, R. E., Lynn, H., Crichton, T., Rukholm, E., Stewart, D. E., . . . Chen, M. H. (2011). Therapeutic benefit of preventive telehealth counseling in the Community Outreach Heart Health and Risk Reduction Trial. The American Journal of Cardiology, 107(5), 690–696.

The authors outline a clinical study that examined the benefits of telehealth counseling. They also analyze motivational interviewing as an agent to change daily behaviors and attitudes of those with cardiovascular disease.

Singh, R., Mathiassen, L., Stachura, M. E., & Astapova, E. V. (2010). Sustainable rural telehealth innovation: A public health case study. Health Services Research, 45(4), 985–1004.

This qualitative study examines previous telehealth implementations in efforts to improve future developments and sustainability in rural areas.

Stewart, S., Hansen, T. S., & Carey, T. A. (2010). Opportunities for people with disabilities in the virtual world of second life. Rehabilitation Nursing, 35(6), 254-259.

Use this article to examine the physical and emotional benefits that virtual realities can bring to people with disabilities.

Cisco. (n.d.). Industry solutions: Healthcare.

Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/healthcare/index.html 

Investigate the ways that Cisco Industry Solutions is working to bridge the gap between communication and technology for health care environments.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (n.d.). MIT media lab.

Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.media.mit.edu/ 

View various technology integration stories in the field of health care at this website

McKesson Corporation. (2011). ROBOT-Rx. Retrieved from http://www.mckesson.com/en_us/McKesson.com/For%2BPharmacies/Inpatient/Pharmacy%2BAutomation/ROBOT-Rx.html 

The McKesson Coporation illustrates how an automated, robotic system is revolutionizing the process of medication storage and dispensing.

Powell, J., Inglis, N., Ronnie, J., & Large, S. (2011). The characteristics and motivations of online health information seekers: Cross-sectional survey and qualitative interview study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(1), e20.

View excerpts from the online questionnaires and follow-up interviews used in this study to identify common themes around motivation, challenges, strategies, and benefits regarding individuals’ use of the Internet to gather health information.

Health on the Net Foundation. (2011).

Retrieved from http://www.hon.ch/ 

Health on the Net Foundation provides consumers with navigation safety tips and the ability to search only those websites that adhere to the credibility standards of the HONcode.

The PEW Charitable Trusts. (2011). Health.

Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_category.aspx?id=184 

At this website you can find information about the consumer-centered health initiatives that the PEW group is working to challenge and improve.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2011). Publications and research. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/research-publications.html 

Use this website to view a wide variety of research-driven publications with topics ranging from obesity to medical malpractice.