Overview: You have been hired by the board of directors of a rural hospital in the hope that you can convince the staff to upgrade to an overarching electronic HIS (health information system).
Background: Aspen Meadows Hospital was founded in the late 1800s to support a growing coal mining industry. Eventually, the town (Small Town, USA) and surrounding area became mostly agriculturally based and the population stabilized at a few thousand people. The hospital has a small emergency room, a surgical center, 25 inpatient beds, a small womens center, and an outpatient rehabilitation wing. It can handle the vast majority of cases and only occasionally needs to transfer patients to the city hospital, 80 miles north. Both the hospital administrator and the chief medical officer (CMO) have been with the hospital for nearly 30 years. They both have doubts about the need to upgrade.
Current System: In 1995, ahead of the passing of HIPAA, Aspen Meadows Hospital purchased a health information system (HIS) that was supposed to streamline efficiency. It was a disaster. Due to budget restraints at the time, the board only approved minimal programmatic training. The administrator and the CMO felt that they could learn as they went. Unfortunately, frustration led to problems, and the entire program (except the billing component) was scrapped when the system collapsed. Hundreds of hours of work and numerous records were lost. Two subsequent attempts to upgrade were met with stiff resistance. The administrator and CMO rallied the staff to maintain status quo and the attempts by the board were dropped.
Present Need: Through HITECH, a government act designed to expand HIT (health information technology) the board was approved for a significant amount of money to upgrade its extremely outdated methods. Additional monies have been secured through the government to maintain the new electronic system well into the foreseeable future. The problem is simply that the board must act now. As a side note, a large hospital system from the city is thinking about opening a small clinic in town to increase its operational footprint. It would represent the first competitor the hospital has ever faced, thus increasing the sense of urgency to upgrade and get with the times.
Deliverable Part 1: As the lead consultant on this project, the board has asked you to create the following 10 Slide PowerPoint presentation. The slides will be arranged in this order:
Slide 1: Introduction/Overview
Slide 2: Identify the various types of health and administrative information collected as the typical patient moves through the hospital
Slide 3: Benefits of having an overarching health information system (HIS) as it relates to decision-making
Slide 4: The use of HIS in long-term strategic planning
Slide 5: Potential issues and ramifications if the health information system is not secure or contains poor quality data
Slide 6: Identification and description of the regulatory standards and legislation that guides health information technology systems
Slide 7: Implementation plan/timeline
Slide 8: Potential barriers to implementation and how to address
Slide 9: A summary of the benefits related to the adoption of an overarching HIS
Slide 10: References