Identify stakeholders that would be involved in the selection of a health IT system. After establishing this list, make a subsection list of the goals and interests of each group: Are they primarily c
CLASSMATE 1 BY LAUREN GREENFIELD :
Topic: The Use of Information Systems in the Delivery of Healthcare
Prompt: Identify stakeholders that would be involved in the selection of a health IT system. After establishing this list, make a subsection list of the goals and interests of each group: Are they primarily clinical? Financial? Operational?
Selecting a health IT system is a difficult and lengthy process. There are hundreds of companies that exist for this type of service; as such, the party that is in need of the health IT system has to follow several steps to rule out some of the options and find the best system to fit their needs. The organization must consider its current state as well as its potential future in order to best select a health IT system. In order to make the best decision from all aspects, it is important to have a selection team comprised of internal and external stakeholders. When the stakeholders are making the decisions, their needs and desires are expressed more clearly which allows for optimal system selection to please all involved parties (Rudin, Simon, Volk, Tripathi, & Bates, 2009).
The stakeholders included in the team that should be established include physicians, nurses, ancillary healthcare staff, payers, regulatory groups, and patients (Nelson & Staggers, 2018). It is important to consider input from all of these different individuals because it allows for selection of the most effective program for the needs of all members involved (McGonigle & Mastrain, 2009).
For physicians, nurses, and ancillary healthcare staff, the primary goals and interests could arguably both clinical and operational. While it is inherently obvious that the goals of healthcare professionals would be clinical, there can be operational goals as well. The ultimate goal in healthcare is to provide the best quality of care that is possible. As such, implementing a heath IT system that will help operations flow smoothly is a move toward this ultimate goal. When providers and health care staff are able to easily access, exchange, and provide information about patients and to patients, the overall quality of health care will increase. With regard to operational goals, the concept is similar. Because the end goal is to optimize health care, health care professionals must test out short-term programs to see if they could be beneficial over a longer period of time.
For payers, the primary goals and interests would be financial. The goal of payers is to provide quality care that is cost-effective. As such, payers are concerned with minimizing costs while maximizing the cost of care. Payers would be interested in implementing a system that is reasonably priced and provides adequate features over a system that is costlier and provides features beyond those that are necessary or practical.
For regulatory groups, the primary goals and interests would be operational. Regulatory groups would be interested in making sure that the new health IT system has adequate measures to comply with privacy requirements and quality measures.
For patients, the primary goals and interests would likely be both clinical and financial. Of course, patients would consider financial implications as the general population is concerned about rising health care costs. Clinically speaking, patients want the best quality of care that is available. As such, a health IT system that improves the overall quality of care would be ideal.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrain, K. (2009). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones and Bartlett Publishers; Sudbury, MA.
Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2018). Health informatics: An interprofessional approach. St. Louis: Mosby.
Rudin, R. S., Simon, S. R., Volk, L. A., Tripathi, M., & Bates, D. (2009). Understanding the Decisions and Values of Stakeholders in Health Information Exchanges: Experiences From Massachusetts. American Journal of Public Health,99(5), 950-955. doi:10.2105/ajph.2008.144873
CLASSMATE 2 BY DENEKA SAMPSON
Before identifying the stakeholders that would be involved in the selection and implementation of a health IT system, an understanding of a stakeholder’s role in this regard is needed. Stakeholders are multiple groups that share a stake in the outcome of endeavors (Nelson & Staggers, 2018, p. 99). Stakeholders may have similar concerns about the technology but different needs and approaches for resolution (Nelson & Staggers, 2018, p. 99). When implementing a new health IT system, hospital leaders should begin by identifying which departments will be affected by the project and make sure those departments are well represented among the key stakeholder groups (Kushan, 2017, para. 1). Depending on the software the stakeholders could fluctuate, however, stakeholders can include: board members, the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief medical officer, IT/informatics leadership, clinical champions, super users, patients, and vendors.
Board members
Hospitals board members assist in making all overall decisions and provide guidance and support to other officers. They would make decisions that would consider operational and financial aspects for the organization.
Chief financial officer
The goals and interest of the financial officer would rely on the affordability and cost effectiveness of the software and the benefit of the software to the organization. Would the software save the company money? Would the organization gain from the software? The chief financial officer would consider all the financial aspects for the organization.
Chief executive officer
The chief executive officer has a goal of being an excellent leader and providing support and ideas to his staff and the board. The interest of the CEO is to ensure that the consideration of the ideas of the hospital staff. The CEO would provide feedback as necessary. The goals and interest of the CEO is primarily operational based; however, they would consider the financial aspects of the system as well.
Chief medical officer
The goals and interest of the chief medical officer are operational based and to ensure that medical services would not be interrupted or cause patient care errors.
IT/informatics leadership
The goals and interest of the IT/informatics leadership team are operational. They would consider how the software works and the planning of the implementation phase to all the departments affected.
Clinical Champions (physicians, nurses, technicians)
Clinicians are considered the end users of software systems that are implemented and are essential stakeholders. Clinical champions have operational goals for how the software would affect the operations of their clinics or the way their unit is ran. The clinical champions would be able to provide feedback from their perspective and provide situational references that may be of concern.
Patients
Patients are important stakeholders because any system implemented could affect the way services are provided to them. The patient experience is of the utmost importance of a hospital organization, which is the reason to consider them on the operational aspect of a system change.
Vendors
Other vendors may be affected by the new software system. It may be beneficial to include them to know how the system could affect their system that is already in place.
Stakeholders provide the necessary roles to make important decisions on the acquiring of new health IT systems through a variety vendor networks.
References
Kushan, D. (2017). How to Identify Key Stakeholders for a Healthcare IT Project. Retrieved July 22, 2018, from https://www.healthcareis.com/blog/how-to-identify-key-stakeholders-for-a-healthcare-it-project
Nelson, R. & Staggers, N. (2018). Health informatics an interprofessional approach (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MI: Elsevier.
