HELLLLPPPPP

0

;

Communication Information Technology

February 24, 2017

Introduction

The application of information technology and computers is one of the most important things that should be embraced by different healthcare organizations for purposes of improving the efficiency as well as well the performance of hospitals. It I important to note that the application of these technologies leads to an increase in the speed of collecting important patients historical data that may be used to offer high quality medical services to them (Baselinemag, 2007). Additionally, the application of these technologies play an important role in assisting hospitals to organize as well as to store all the patient’s data in a way that it can be traced easily and without any hurdles. It is also important to note that the technology has the ability to lock access to information like through the use of encryption and passwords thus ensuring that no unauthorized person can access any information in the facility (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013). Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to give an analysis of the role of health officers in the process of ensuring efficiency in the healthcare information technology systems.

Define the fundamental responsibilities and key characteristics of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) within health care organizations

Generally, a chief information officer can be defined as that individual who has been given the authority to oversee the development as well as the advancement of information technology in a given healthcare setting. To fulfill his or her job objectives effectively, a chief information officer is supposed to make sure that there is appropriate involvement of medical officers in the use as well as in the improvement of every infrastructure that is related to information technology (Baselinemag, 2007). Additionally, these individuals are also mandated with the responsibility of creating roles as well as appropriate knowledge linked to the use of information system among all persons in a given healthcare facility.

On the other hand, the work of the Chief Technology Officer is to invest his or her time and resources for purposes of staying updated on any of the new technologies available and make an appropriate evaluation of their applicability and usefulness in the healthcare setting (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013). Again, these individuals are also involved in the process of evaluating the different standards of technology as well as supervising the information technology managers. Additionally, these individuals are also given the responsibility of evaluating different managerial skills like return on investment when trying to determine the kind of projects that the healthcare organizations should implement (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013).

Make one (1) recommendation where they can utilize their expertise to assist with employee and patient satisfaction

Presumably, the key role of these officers is to ensure that the operations of the healthcare facilities that they are attached to are run in an efficient manner through the application of appropriate information technology infrastructure. As such, the two officers have a common duty of ensuring that the workers in the organization where they work achieve the best in terms of using the right information technology infrastructure. Thus, the officers are supposed to make sure that the healthcare employees receive the best training in the application of IT in the hospital setting (Baselinemag, 2007). They also have the ability to organize for trainings by holding workshops and seminars. Through his organizations website, these officers may develop appropriate chat box that will help the management to chat and get the right feedback from the customers as well as from other employees in the organization. They may also offer their help to the healthcare facility by offering effective consultancy services that will streamline the operations of the healthcare facilities. The CTO is always responsible for all the engineering works in the healthcare facility and he or she must apply the available technology in enhancing the operations of an organization (Difference between CTO and CIO | Difference Between | CTO vs. CIO. (n.d.). Lastly, the CTO plays a significant role in integrating technology with production in the healthcare sector.

Developing technologies that health care systems apply

Recent research found out that most of the processes that are carried out in different healthcare sectors call for the application of technology. In this, it is important to note that organizations are responsible in the process of defining and using the available data in the process of developing appropriate plans to improve the performances that happen in the organization, reduce the costs and improve service delivery (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013). As such, the best two technologies that may be employed by healthcare organizations for purposes of improving the healthcare processes are that of adding a Therapeutic Consultation Program as well as that of implementing an Electronic Medical Record (Difference between CTO and CIO | Difference Between | CTO vs. CIO. (n.d.). The other best technology is that of adopting the Health Information Exchange technology with e Prescribing.

The application of the Therapeutic Consultation Program in the healthcare facilities plays a significant role in offering a better outcome to all the patients having chronic conditions. The application of this technology reduces the number of times that individuals visit healthcare centers as well as making sure that patients take their medication as properly prescribed. On the other hand, the application of the Electronic Health Records as well as the Health Information Exchanges with e Prescribing plays an important role in reducing the costs of patients and providing enough security through monitoring the safety of the patients in different healthcare facilities where they are applied (Baselinemag, 2007).

Additionally, the health information exchanges offer an appropriate platform for the electronic health records to be exchanged between different healthcare stakeholders and give results that are then used to offer appropriate care to the patients irrespective of their geographical location and time. The application of e prescribing services in the healthcare sector plays an important role in increasing the level of patient satisfaction and efficiencies when offering their services. Through the application of this technology, the pharmacists always give the right prescription without having to guess what the doctors had written.

Appropriate strategies to prevent information misuse

There are a number of methods that can be applied in the process of making sure that information is not misused in healthcare organizations and that patient privacy is strongly upheld. It is important for the healthcare managements to note that whether the process of giving information happens intentionally or unintentionally, it could lead to some serious information about the patients being leaked to different unauthorized individuals (Difference between CTO and CIO | Difference Between | CTO vs. CIO. (n.d.). As such, there is always a need for the healthcare IT technicians to come up with the right assets and technologies to protect the information of their patients.

One of the best methods that could be applied in the process of protecting organizational data is that of using data encryptions. The use of data encryptions in the healthcare facilities will make sure that the transfer of data from one department to the other is secure and that no hackers will in anyway access the data being exchanged in the healthcare organizations (Baselinemag, 2007). Through this process, all the data in the healthcare facilities will be kept off any changes, will not be easily accessed thus remaining secure from any source of interruptions that could lead to effectiveness in the way in which data is organized and kept in the facilities (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013).

The other effective method that could be used is that of embracing the use of passwords in all the systems that are connected to the healthcare organization. The use of passwords happens to be amongst the most commonly used methods of protecting patient medical records. The application of this method will entail the use of user Identification and a defining PIN number that will authorize individuals to access these systems effectively (Baselinemag, 2007). Through the application of this method, all the information available in the organization will be kept secure and away from different threats that might be brought about by unauthorized system access.

Strategy for healthcare organizations to train providers

There are a number of strategies that might be used by different organizations to offer effective training to their providers. One of the best training strategies that might be applied by different organizations is the process-based training. By definition, the process-based training is a kind of training that makes different employees to learn on how to use new systems in the organization (Baselinemag, 2007). It is important to note that the introduction of a new system in an organization will definitely affect the flow of work in an organization thus the need to learn on how to operate effectively.

The application of the process-based training by the organization happens to be the most effective strategy as it offers the much needed updates about the organization as well as playing an important role in standardizing different policies and procedures and entail that what could be termed as the best practices for the employee’s training (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013). Additionally, it is important to note that the processes might significantly change from time to time and evolve from one level to the other as employees learn more about the new system for purposes of effecting their operations. Additionally, having different issues come up at the time of training can assist significantly in reducing the anxiety levels of the employees during transition times.

Best practices in effective IT alignment

There are a number of practices that can be applied for information technology alignment purposes. Thus, the best IT alignment strategies to apply include the following.

Establishing an IT Steering Committee

The use of this strategy will work significantly in helping those initiatives that do not work in the healthcare organizations. These teams tend to work hand-in-hand with the chief information officer (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013). As such, it is important to note that the CIO convinces the steering committee to prioritize their issues for purposes of making the organizations more effective.

Installing a high level Information Technology liaison in every department

The other best strategy that could be applied is that of coming up with an effective I.T liaison committee (Baselinemag, 2007). Those who are put in this position tend to play an important role in helping the organization to identify the various ways that the organization’s departments can apply technology and end up gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

Produce and distribute a list of ongoing projects

There happens to be a need to come up with an updated project after every month. The list is then distributed to the Information technology department as well as to different organization’s leaders (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013).

Conclusion

To conclude, it is important to note that organizational information should be guarded at any cost for purposes of making the organization more effective and efficient in its operations. As such, this paper has discussed a number of aspects that are related healthcare information management as well as defining the roles of different employees in the organization. Through this, the reader has been equipped with the right knowledge concerning the different issues that have been discussed in the paper.

References

Baselinemag. (2007). Page 4 - I.T.-Business Alignment: 10 Best Practices. Retrieved from http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Past-News/ITBusiness Alignment-10 Best Practices/3/

Difference between CTO and CIO | Difference Between | CTO vs. CIO. (n.d.). Retrievedfrom http://www.differencebetween.net/business/difference-between-cto-and-cio/#ixzz1fUQdhgPz

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2013). Healthcare information systems: A practical approach to health care management  (3rd Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass