Your final submission of the Implementation Plan will be the 3–4-page plan from the Unit 4 IP with any revisions AND 1–2 new pages of content on the training and testing. The final page count is 5–6 p

EHR PLAN FOR YORKSHIRE CLINIC

EHR PLAN FOR YORKSHIRE CLINIC

Name

School

Health Informatics Capstone as it pertains to the Request for Proposal and Compilation of Implementation Plan

(HCI490-2204A-99)

Professor

Date

Introduction

Yorkshire is a busy healthcare facility which handles a large number of patients within Tacoma in Washington (Colorado Technical University, 2021). Under a large number of clients, the institution must be well-organized since its reputation depends on the type of services in which it gives its clients. The old system might have worked for the institution for many years but based on the needs and the increasing number of clients, there surely is a need for the implementation of a EHR system. The integration of an EHR system will not only serve several clients within a short period of time, but it will also improve their experience while accessing treatment options of the highly reliable institution.

To determine the level of which the system will benefit Yorkshire, it is important to consider some of the improvements that it will bring into the institution. The potential issues that Yorkshire will face while using the system should also be considered, in addition to some of the needs of the staff members, as well as the most appropriate vendor for the EHR system.

Part 1: Components of the plan

When organizing for an EHR implementation plan, there are several factors which must be considered which includes the organization’s budget, the number of people a system should serve, how well the system will improve patients’ expectations, and ensuring that there is a clear system of how workers shall be equipped with the necessary skills of applying the system. All this should be controlled by the ultimate goal which is to improve healthcare services.

Readiness Assessment

The organization is ready to establish a system which will meet all its healthcare service’s needs. There are three systems which have been proposed but Epic system provides the most appropriate services as per the organization’s needs. There are other requirements which should be considered which includes the allocated budget and the number of workers who are currently working for the organization.

The plan focuses on achieving specific goals and objectives which have been set by the company. One of the main goals is to ensure that each patient receives quality services in order to enhance their level of satisfaction. There is also a need to enhance the efficiency and productivity level of each employee in the organization, while creating a conducive working environment for all staff members. The main aim of each health care organization is to improve the levels of healthcare services offered to clients. This plan aims towards achieving this goal in addition to other listed goals.

When organizing the plan, an implementation team shall be developed which will be responsible of steering all processes of the plan. The team members should possess adequate information of EHR systems and should also be willing to create time for the project since it will be highly involving. The team members should be willing to defer from each other on the most appropriate use of the system but also should be willing to come up with a common agreement on how the system should be used.

There are other factors which should also be considered such as assessing the level of workflows in the organization, the current administrative practices which the facility executes, how the institution collects data, and the process of reporting the collected data. Another key factor which should be observed during the readiness stage is to assess the level of readiness for each of the staff members with the aim of determining their level of competence when it comes to using ICT systems.

Another key factor that should be considered is to examine all the computer systems with the aim of ensuring that both their software and hardware are well functioning in order to handle all the tasks. It is also important to contact the vendor in order to determine all of their requirements. This information is important when it comes to gathering all the needed resources for the implementation process. In regards to the readiness stage, it is vital to ensure that all the necessary items are available even before the project kicks off. This will reduce unexpected problems which might affect the targeted project time frame.

Benefits of Switching to New EHR

One main benefit of using the system is that it will enable the organization to improve the kind of services it offers to its clients. The system will also reduce possible errors which occur during medication due to applications such as Computerized Provider order entry (Samhan & Joshi, 2019). Since the system offers efficiency, the system will enable the organization to meet its mission, objectives, and goals within the set duration of time.

The system will also reduce situations where duplicate testing might occur. In case a drug contradiction happens, the system shall also give early warnings to physicians. Through the Clinical Decision Support System, the physicians shall also be assisted throughout the treatment processes for the patients (Health IT Playbook, 2019). It will also reduce the amount of time that each patient should take while receiving the treatments since it takes them systematically from one department to the next.

Potential Implementation Issues

One of the main issues that might affect the implementation process is insufficient skills from the current employees when it comes to using the system effectively. Others might lack the necessary ICT skills which includes how to avoid lack of security issues which might allow a hacker into the system. To control this issue, the vendor will take some time to train all employees on how to use the system together with training them on safety measures in order to keep attackers off the system (Sreenivasan & Chacko, 2021). The period for this process shall be determined by how well the workers will be able to integrate with the system.

Data migration

Data migration involves transferring data from one storage system to another without affecting the normal operations of an organization. Data migration should also ensure that vital information is not lost during the process of transfer. An example is a situation where the organization had stored vast data regarding treatment processes of the patients in a hard drive (Sarmah, 2018). If such data is lost, it means that the operations of the institution shall be affected since data on previous treatment processes becomes unavailable.

One of the main ways of data migration is a one-time data conversion. It can also be transferred through installing the vendor’s neutral archive, through multiple systems, and through system-to-system interface. Failure to plan appropriately for the process of data migration may lead to massive losses which costs an institution to repair. Therefore it is ideal to implement the need to assess various dimensions before beginning the data migration process.

Communication plan

Communication plan aims at determining ways through which information shall be conveyed from the organization to the stakeholders. The plan also foretells the type of information which an organization will need to convey to stakeholders (Lo Presti & Marino, 2020). The plan should also ensure that the information remains confidential since it contains vital blueprints of an organization.

When planning for communication, Yorkville will begin by determining the objectives of the communication process. An example is collection of funds which should be used to improve the EHR system. The second step is to determine the stakeholders who should be informed about the plan. At times, some of the information might be aimed at a specific team of stakeholders. This team should be identified in order to ensure that the message gets to the right personnel. The third step shall include selecting a permanent communication channel where the message should be sent. For the case of the company, it is appropriate to send encrypted emails (Lo Presti, & Marino, 2020). The final step is to plan the structure of the message which should be clear and straight to the point. Incase persuasion is required, the message should be struggled well enough in order to meet its objective.

Change Management Process

It is important to note that the workers in Yorkshire are already used to old strategies which have been working according to them. Due to that, some might not be willing to learn how to use the new systems or adapt to the required change. There is a need to come up with an effective way of enabling them to migrate from the new system in order to adapt to the changes (Alqatawenah, 2018). They should also understand that the change aims at improving all aspects of the organization.

The first principle is to let them understand the benefit of the change. This should aim at letting them understand how the change will improve their working conditions and also how it will lead to the growth of the organization. The second principle is incorporating the employees in the change process. They should not feel left out as they will not possess intrinsic motivation to adopt to the change. Where necessary, their contribution should be considered in order to allow them to own the change.

The next principle is to assess the level of which the organization is ready to adopt to the change. This includes assessing the current skills of all employees and the finances which have been allocated for the purpose of the change. In case gaps are identified, the right steps should be taken in order to ensure that the whole organization is set for the changes. The last step is to message the impact of the change continuously in order to ensure that it is achieving the intended purpose.

Recommendations for Vendor

The most appropriate EHR system should be able to meet the expectations of the facility within the set budget. It should also create a conducive, effective, and friendly working environment for all the users which also includes meeting the needs of patients. Epic EHR system is an effective solution for Yorkville since it meets most of the requirements of the organization. It has been operational since the year 1979 which means that the vendor is highly experienced when it comes to healthcare operations.

The vendor also allows the organization to advance its system in case there is a need to scale the operations up. This is possible through its ability to add new programs without having to affect the previous functions of the system. The world is moving towards storing data on the cloud and Epic has been able to offer cloud computing services. Through cloud computing services, the organization shall be able to save on the cost of operations since it will not purchase storage hard drives. The system will also be more efficient since it will be first enough to handle all operations.

Part 2: Request for proposal

Information about the clinic

Yorkville clinic is currently located in Tacoma, Washington. It has several employees which include 10 physicians, a nurse, two physician assistants, and other members of staff (Colorado Technical University, 2021). The facility has served over 14,000 patients which means that there is a need to improve its efficiency. The stakeholders include the management, patients, nurses and the physicians. The facility functions under the goal of improving the services offered to patients and improving safety standards.

Functionality desired

Based on the number of staff members, the positioning of the facility and the number of patients served by the institution, there is a need to set up the EHR system which shall ensure that he right services are offered within the shortest time (HealthIT.gov, 2018). Much information will be required from the vendor in order to determine their level of experience when it comes to training workers on the use of EHR, and also to ensure that Epic meets the expectations of data migration. The following information shall be checked.

1. Epic’s profile.

2. The number of years the company has been operating EHR systems.

3. The number of EHR systems which the company has installed in the region.

4. The time which the company will spend while implementing the system.

5. The number of live sites which shall be created.

6. The total cost of installing the entire system.

7. When should also provide a contract which includes the warrant, penalties, and other relevant information.

Product description

The product should customize all operations as per the needs of the organization which includes being willing to make the necessary changes within the shortest time possible. The system should allow free text order and also should utilize ICD10 coding (Huang et al., 2020). It should be able to hold at least ten open sites which should function without having to face some down time. When it comes to security, security enhancement features must also be present which includes adopting the necessary changes in order to improve the security level where necessary. It is also necessary to provide information on the period of which maintenance of the system should be done in order to keep the system effective.

There is a need to provide a description of all training programs which should be done. Epic should train all employees on how to handle the system operations and also on how to pass the relevant communication from one department to another using the system. It is also important to train the employees on security measures which should be performed in order to keep all files and programs safe from attacks. The system should also be segmented in order to allow a specific group of employee to access specific sections while the management access all the relevant details.

Conclusion

The world of technology has made all operations in various institutions effective. It is an important step for Yorkshire to adopt an effective EHR system in order to improve its operations and also the level of customer satisfaction. Working closely with Epic, the organization should be able to meet its goals since the vendor allows the organization to scale up its operations. There is also a need for both to work together when testing the effectiveness of the system. This will allow Epic to identify areas which require improvements.

References:

Alqatawenah, A. S. (2018). Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Verslas: Teorija Ir Praktika/Business: Theory and Practice, 19, 17-24.

Colorado Technical University. (2021, September 14). HCI490 Scenario: Yorkshire Clinic: Replacement of EHR [PDF]. Colorado Technical University Virtual Campus. https://studentlogin.coloradotech.edu

Health IT Playbook. (2019). Healthit.gov. https://www.healthit.gov/playbook/electronic-health-records/

HealthIT.gov. (2018). Goals and objectives for electronic health record (EHR) implementation. https://www.healthit.gov/resource/goals-and-objectives-electronic-health-record-ehr-implementation

http://www.hl7.org

https://class.ctuonline.edu/_layouts/MUSEViewer/Asset.aspx?MID=23208569&aid=23208574

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/category/resource-topic/electronic-health-records

Lo Presti, L., & Marino, V. (2020). Is online public engagement a new challenge in the university communication plan? A managerial perspective. Studies in Higher Education, 45(7), 1380-1397. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2019.1619680

Samhan, B., & Joshi, K. D. (2019). Switching to electronic health record systems: a replication of the user resistance model. AIS Transactions on Replication Research, 5(1), 11. https://aisel.aisnet.org/trr/vol5/iss1/11/

Sarmah, S. S. (2018). Data migration. Science and Technology, 8(1), 1-10. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/S-Sarmah/publication/336084389_Data_Migration/links/5d8d8bc892851c33e94074c8/Data-Migration.pdf

Sreenivasan, M., & Chacko, A. M. (2021). Interoperability issues in EHR systems: Research directions. Data analytics in biomedical engineering and healthcare, 13-28. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128193143000021

Zhou, L., Cheng, C., Ou, D., & Huang, H. (2020). Construction of a semi-automatic ICD-10 coding system. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 20(1), 1-12.