The healthcare sector is quickly changing, and the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Medical Records (EMR), as well as improved patient care procedures and more efficient management practices has been determined to increase the overall quality of health (Argaw et al., 2020). This paper, therefore, is an analysis of the issues and challenges related to cost quality as well as external forces applied during selection implementation in EHR using CTU Health Care Information Systems Department under management. Secondly, EHR faces a great external threat today using research in the paper.
The adoption of the EHR system demands great monetary outlays. Software, hardware, training, and maintenance costs may be a key challenge to healthcare organizations. However, the shift from paper systems to EHR implementation may yield productivity losses in the initial stages.
The quality of healthcare can be improved by a great deal through EHR systems that provide accurate and timely information. While solving these issues, others emerge such as data accuracy between the different systems and standardized entry protocols. Data integrity is central to producing the best from EHR in terms of quality improvement.
The external healthcare environment is influenced by several forces that can also affect EHR implementation (Hsia et al., 2019). Government bodies or industry standards may require certain regulatory requirements that lead to user selection and the functioning of EHR elements. Besides, innovations in technology, policy-altering health, and more take place as a part of the dynamic termination force.
Cyber-attack has become one of the most significant threats to today’s EHR environment, and it is a new external threat. However, as medical data go digital and tend to interconnect across healthcare systems due to the magnitude of values these databases possess adversaries attack them. The imminent cybersecurity threats such as ransomware attacks and data breaches do not only infringe upon patient privacy but also undermine some vital medical practices.
In addition to patient privacy, certain core medical services are also collided by the seemingly pre-determined phantom of cyber security threats that take various forms such as ransomware attacks and data breaches. Cybersecurity threats including ransomware attacks and breaches take advantage of the system’s weaknesses threatening patient privacy while disrupting operations.
Cybersecurity threat, exemplified by ransomware and penetrated summersaults erodes not only a patient’s privacy but also deprive institutions of the support they get from their operational networks.
It should be stated that new and emerging threats need healthcare facilities to fortify their current defense systems to ensure the confidentiality, and availability of patient information from continual attacks by sophisticated cybercriminals. However, cyber-attacks on EHR systems pose massive threats because they interfere with three vital doctrines that dictate patient data management – confidentiality integrity. Ransomware attacks are among their most dominating form because EHR data is locked by attackers and have to pay so that it can be released. Not only does it endanger patient data confidentiality but also promotes the risk of business interruption. In this case, if ransomware has a malicious nature healthcare service may be disrupted and thus patients will not receive appropriate treatment. In addition to that, when breaches occur in EHR systems identity theft, fraud, and many privacy issues are discussed (Hsia et al., 2019). A denial of patient confidentiality in health care systems creates the resilience capacity of EHRs against actors who want unauthorized gain into sensitive data within heath hence measuring requisite solid cybersecurity interventions that prevent these threats.
As the leader of the CTU Health Care Information Systems Department, a manager cannot but notice a cyber threat. It is very important to be proactive by deploying the highest available range of security measures including encryption, stringent access control rules, and periodic audits for validation to encourage EHR systems to become as sturdy defenses as they can. No less important is the continuous training of employees in cybersecurity standards, inspiring them to build a culture of awakening and alertness. Secondly, the creation of specific incident response procedures ensures a timely and effective reaction to any potential security violation. All of these initiatives combined form a pretext for the secured and functioning cybersecurity program that ensures patient information protection within CTU’s healthcare-related
It is very complicated to manage the cybersecurity threats in a medical environment. However, the intricacy of EHR systems is an abdication that has a lot of personal and confidential patient information and appealing targets for computer criminals (Argaw et al., 2020). However, as cyber threats are constantly changing and evolving, healthcare institutions do not have a chance to recover before another attack comes.
Another issue is the absence of proper financial and human resources. The total amount of money that healthcare providers spend on complex security systems is determined by budget limitations. In addition, alongside the lack of cybersecurity professionals in this industry, there are human resource restrictions that hinder security adoption. However, finding the right balance between accessibility and strict safety protocols has been difficult to achieve. This security should be kept in a fragile balance so that access to patient information can happen instantaneously. It is necessary to strike a balance, between protecting the patients’ information and preserving these healthcare systems’ reliability.
In conclusion, cost-based policies of strategic decisions for EHR acquisition and implantation comprised selection that can be used within a university medical institution are inspired by quality improvement goals together with other external nonhomogeneous fiscal forces including regulation regulations as well as contemporary technological advances. Such implications and challenges necessitate a comprehensive approach that considers financial investments, and data accuracy issues of the interoperability threats to cybersecurity. The high potential of cybersecurity attacks is likely becoming a swell and evident problem to the EHRs now, which need thwarting efforts to guard patients’ data and sustain integrity in healthcare systems. As a manager, managing these challenges is essential in ensuring adequate implementation of EHR in medical centers where it can facilitate better patient care and quality standards within the healthcare system.
References
Hsia, T. L., Chiang, A. J., Wu, J. H., Teng, N. N., & Rubin, A. D. (2019). What drives E-Health usage? Integrated institutional forces and top management perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 97, 260-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.01.010
Argaw, S. T., Troncoso-Pastoriza, J. R., Lacey, D., Florin, M. V., Calcavecchia, F., Anderson, D., … & Flahault, A. (2020). Cybersecurity of Hospitals: discussing the challenges and working towards mitigating the risks. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 20, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-020-01161-7
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