Healthcare professionals and patients alike use the phrase “health information technology” (health IT) to refer to the electronic systems they employ to store, distribute, and analyze health information. Healthcare information technology (HIT) is the application of information processing utilizing computer hardware and software, which is concerned with storing and retrieving healthcare data and knowledge for communication and decision-making purposes. Information technology in health care includes anything from simple charting to more advanced decision support and connection with medical equipment. Human error may be reduced, clinical outcomes improved, care coordination streamlined, practice efficiency increased, and data collected over time can all be benefits of health information technology. With the technological advancements rampant in the 21st century, many organizations have embraced the use of information technology, and the health sector has not been left behind. As the world embraces the changes in technology, so do the different organizations in the different sectors all worldwide, as this helps them maintain their competitive advantage and remain relevant in the ever dynamic and competitive world. Public policy and statesmanship have also incorporated the use of health information technology, which will bring about several benefits in the future as different organizations strive to attain the best-concerning health information technology.
Part 1
The Organization: The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
AHIMA, The American Health Information Management Association is a worldwide, non-profit organization for those who work in the field of health information. Each year, more than one billion patient visits are handled by the professionals represented by AHIMA. It is the objective of AHIMA to guarantee that health information is accurate, comprehensive, and accessible to patients and providers, and it is what motivates the organization’s members and certified HI professionals to do their part (Alrahbi, et al. 2021). At the crossroads of healthcare, technology, and business, the company’s executives work in data integrity and information security roles globally. AHIMA has professionals, who support the use of electronic and paper-based medical information in corporate and clinical settings (Alrahbi, et al. 2021). The group’s mission is to strengthen the knowledge and abilities of health information professionals. Healthcare IT is significantly influenced by health informatics and data analytics. On top of that, the organization has a say in government policy (Alrahbi, et al. 2021).
Specific Program or Policy: Data Analytics and Informatics
Data analytics and informatics are essential to this new age of electronic health records (EHRs) and equally essential for the organization. Health data analytics and informatics workers that have the capacity and skillset to influence the quality, efficiency, and cost of treatment without ever treating a patient are in high demand and expected to fill the gaps in the organization (AHIMA, 2021). Data analytics and informatics are vital for the success of healthcare businesses. Healthcare companies must be able to manage, analyze, and understand data to determine the most effective methods to provide high-quality treatment. Even though some perceive analytics and informatics to be equivalent phrases, the two concepts and practices are separate (AHIMA, 2021). Quantitative and qualitative approaches are used in data analytics to find and examine patterns and trends in the data. Expert health data analysts can obtain, manage, analyze, interpret, and turn large amounts of data into reliable information that is fast, accurate, and consistent.
As AHIMA describes it, informatics is a collaborative activity that incorporates people, processes, and technology to develop and utilize reliable data for improved decision-making. To enhance healthcare delivery and patient outcomes, informatics makes use of data, information, and knowledge. Information technology (IT) is concerned with putting the findings of data analytics to use (Steinmann, et al. 2020). It is the job of health informatics specialists to utilize their technical expertise to assist in the creation of efficient systems for collecting, archiving, interpreting, and managing the data created while providing healthcare to patients (Steinmann, et al. 2020). As a result, health information technology systems (HIT systems) collect and utilize data from both internal and external sources, and these data are then used by data analysts to explain how an organization may enhance clinical care and decision-making.
How the Public Sector Administrator, CIO Uses IT
Chief Information Officers’ duties and responsibilities have changed throughout time as technology has progressed. As a CIO at AMIHA, one is in charge of managing the IT team, as well as the organization’s IT-related assets including software and hardware, and they are also in charge of strategic planning connected to computer systems and the network (Vest, et al. 2019). Since it is impossible to create a product without the use of technology, the CIO position is critical to the company’s success. An effective chief information officer (CIO) has a firm grasp of both technology and product development and can use that understanding to make key business choices. At AMIHA, the CIO serves as a vital link between the worlds of business and information technology. Reaffirming institutional and SMT commitment to technology by the appointment of an official Chief Information Officer (CIO) or by acknowledging comparable senior management in this capacity (Vest, et al. 2019). Having a deep awareness of the business demands of an institution, as well as an understanding of the needs of its users, is essential for a CIO here as this knowledge enables them to integrate IT into the system, which they will use throughout their work (Kruse, & Beane, 2018). The capacity and passion of the CIO to engage with and through the larger community of institutional management to achieve institutional goals distinguishes a CIO from the others. To meet institutional strategy, whether transformational, strategic, or operational, they can focus and mobilize technology (Vest, et al. 2019). In this regard, the CIO is highly knowledgeable in matters concerning IT in the organization, and they are in a better place to foresee the future impact of Health Information Technology, which will benefit both the employers, employees and the organization at large.
Part 2
Summary of Learning and Findings
The days of doing business as usual in the healthcare industry are over. Health care systems around the world struggle to keep up with the rising costs and varying levels of quality, despite the hard work of well-trained and well-intentioned clinicians. A multitude of incremental fixes, such as combating fraud and improving patient-consumer relations have failed to make much of a dent in the healthcare system’s spiraling costs. There needs to be an overhaul of the company’s strategy (Kruse, & Beane, 2018). Patients’ health and well-being are at the heart of value-based healthcare. It is time for the world to transition away from a physician-driven health care system and toward a patient-driven one that is focused on what people want and need. Instead of focusing on the number of patients seen, hospitalizations, procedures, and tests performed, it is essential to pay attention to the results they achieve. Another requirement is to replace the current disjointed healthcare delivery model, where providers in each community offer the same services, with a model that concentrates services for specific medical conditions in healthcare delivery organizations and the most appropriate locations to provide high-value health care (Kruse, et al. 2018). This is not a one-off event; rather, it is part of a larger plan referred to as the “value agenda”. It will necessitate a fundamental shift in the way health care is delivered, measured, and rewarded. Thousands of health care leaders and academic researchers around the world have worked to develop the tools needed to implement the value agenda, which are now being widely used by health care providers and other organizations. Toward value-based health care, the transition has already begun and is distinct for people to see the need for health information technology (Kruse, et al. 2018). There are still some organizations that are in the early stages of pilots and projects. Large-scale value agenda adjustments have been implemented by other organizations as well, leading to impressive gains in terms of results and efficiency, along with a rise in market share. Increasing the value of care is no longer a question. Value-based organizations face a formidable task in light of decades of entrenched interests and practices. From the inside out, this shift must take place. This collection of interdependent measures to increase value can only be implemented by healthcare providers and doctors, since the way medicine is performed ultimately determines its worth (Kruse, et al. 2018). In addition, every stakeholder in the health care system has an important role to play. Faster change is possible, and it will be beneficial for all parties involved, from patients and health plans to employers and suppliers.
From paper records to department-based systems to huge enterprise systems, healthcare data quality procedures are advancing. Electronic searches, comparative and shared databases, data repositories, and ongoing quality improvement are all now part of these procedures. To meet a variety of demands, HIM specialists are experts in gathering and categorizing data to support a wide range of issues such as the degree of sickness and meaningful usage (Moore, et al. 2020). By assuring the timely availability of data, managing its collection, and evaluating and reporting obtained data, HIM experts stimulate the use of data and nurture its usage. Information governance, data governance, and stewardship are becoming more important duties for HIM practitioners (Moore, et al. 2020). The growth of these sectors requires a combination of leadership, management, and IT abilities. For individuals who are willing to stay on top of the latest developments in healthcare, occupations such as clinical data manager, terminology asset manager, and health data analyst will remain in high demand.
Assessment for AHIMA’s Effectiveness of Management Information
Payment reform, health information exchange, and value-based purchasing efforts are just a few of the challenges facing healthcare leaders today. The common denominator in all of these challenges is making sure that data are accessible, shareable, and transferable. There has never been a greater need for information governance (IG) as electronic health records (EHRs) have been more widely employed in all healthcare settings. Strong information and data governance, stewardship, management, and evaluation are essential for dealing with these complex issues (Moore, et al. 2020). Data and information governance is based on eight basic concepts articulated by the AHIMA Information Governance Principles for Healthcare. The first one is accountability. This entails the identification or designation of a senior member, like in this case, the CIO, who will be responsible for developing and maintaining the program. Secondly, transparency will be ideal for documenting activities and processes related to the program, and they are easily accessible and available for review at any time by the stakeholders. Integrity is the third principle that AHIMA observes, whereby the systems should have evidence of trust in authentication, completion of information, accuracy, and timeliness. The programs are protected by confidential and private information from corruption, breach, and loss (Moore, et al. 2020). The programs comply with the federal, state, and local regulations, healthcare organizations’ procedures, and policies, ethical practices, and accrediting agencies’ standards. The sixth principle is accessibility, which means that data can be quickly and easily retrieved by those who are accountable and permitted. According to ethical and legal standards, information has a finite life expectancy that must be adhered to. Finally, the AHIMA disposal procedure guarantees that information is disposed of in an ethical and legal manner (Moore, et al. 2020). Safe, effective, and high-quality treatment can only be provided if patients’ health information can be properly secured and confirmed. There is a pressing need to guarantee that the information gathered via the use of health information technology is accurate. All information created or utilized in a healthcare institution must be of the highest quality, regardless of where it came from (Kavandi, & Jaana, 2020). To guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, relevance, validity, and completeness of the data, they must be collected. Data are everywhere in healthcare. Continuous quality improvement and strategic patient care advancement will be achieved via the utilization of data components inside companies, as well as benchmarking population health programs (Moore, et al. 2020). Progress and future projections within a healthcare institution are determined through the use of data components. The primary efforts of payment reform and quality measure reporting amplify the data requirements of a company. As new categorization and nomenclature systems get more precise and granular, they highlight the necessity of data qualities such as consistency, completeness, and correctness.
Part 3
Incorporating what was learned in the course
Early in the planning process, data quality measures must be introduced. When feasible, definitions and permissible values for data dictionaries should be based on standards. High-quality data is essential for meaningful data analysis. Data must be used in the proper context, and conclusions must be restricted to a similar population if the underlying data are valid. Thus, the medical business needs information and data governance procedures to handle the ever-increasing volume of electronic information and data (Huo, et al. 2019). Offshore data transfer involves governance and procedure compliance in addition to the gathering of relevant metrics. Information may be regulated utilizing the eight principles outlined above regardless of the variety in the healthcare business. The AHIMA HIM Core Model’s additional data-driven activities have a framework thanks to information governance, which establishes parameters based on organizational and compliance norms, processes, decision rights, and obligations. All health information is managed per applicable laws, rules, and standards, as well as the policies of the organization in which it is being used. Data should use security measures to secure itself to achieve data quality management (Kavandi, & Jaana, 2020). A secure audit trail should be maintained for all data communications, and confidential agreements with trustworthy partners should ensure that data is safeguarded at rest and in storage and backup settings. Function-based security, which limits access depending on the requirements of the user to carry out his or her role, should be implemented to help with this (Kavandi, & Jaana, 2020). There should be proper monitoring and encryption in place, as well as security measures in place to ensure the safety of devices. Protecting and ensuring ethical use of health information is the primary goal of HIM experts.
Insights and Recommendation
Defining a Mission
The first step in resolving any issue is to determine what the desired outcome is, as had been anticipated. There has been a lack of focus on the right aim in health care reform efforts, which has hampered progress. It has been a diversion to focus on narrow objectives like enhancing access to care, keeping expenses in check, and increasing profits (Fox, & Connolly, 2018). No one wants to get bad treatment or save costs at the cost of quality. In today’s healthcare environment, profit is not linked with the interests of patients since profits are generated by expanding the number of services, not by providing excellent outcomes (Fox, & Connolly, 2018). Providers as well as every other stakeholder in the health care industry must strive to improve patients’ quality of life, which is defined as their health outcomes and the cost of reaching those results. Improved results must be achieved without increasing expenses or decreasing costs without sacrificing outcomes. The inability to enhance value is a sure sign of failure.
Decide on the services that will be provided.
Integration begins by assessing what services can be efficiently delivered by a provider and deleting or decreasing service lines that cannot realistically reach high value. Providers in the community may have to leave or enter into partnerships in service areas that are more complicated, such as heart surgery or treatment of uncommon malignancies. In the case of university medical institutions, which have greater resources and personnel, this may entail reducing regular lines of service and developing affiliations or partnerships with lower-cost community doctors in the same areas of expertise (Chen et al. 2018). A change to a value-based delivery system would need reducing service lines, even though this has historically been an irregular act in health care, as institutions attempt to provide all they can for everyone.
Make sure each service is in the proper place
This is the third component of system integration: offering specific services in the areas where the value is most high. There should be a shift from teaching hospitals to lower-cost institutions for less difficult illnesses and regular care, with appropriate rates (Chen et al. 2018). Matching the skillsets and complexity required with the intensity resource of the location would not only save costs but also raise staff utilization and productivity, which is an enormous value improvement opportunity (Chen et al. 2018). Providers are often compensated for providing services in a hospital context, and academic medical centers sometimes pay much more for these services. High-priced venues are no longer the place to charge inflated costs for ordinary services.
Streamline care by integrating it across the board
Individual patient care is the last step in integrating the healthcare system. As care is distributed across several places, providers must learn how to connect the patient’s care across various locations. A single site is not required for repeating services, however, care should be directed by IPUs (Adepoju, & Opel, n.d). Those suffering from low back discomfort, for example, maybe evaluated by a spine IPU team in the city and, if necessary, have surgery there, but they could continue their physical treatment elsewhere. The IPU, on the other hand, oversees the whole care process, regardless of where the services are provided (Adepoju, & Opel, n.d). An efficient and cost-effective strategy to give multidisciplinary treatment is by incorporating mechanisms like assigning a single practitioner team captain to every patient and using standard scheduling and other procedures.
Develop a Technology Enabling Platform
A sixth component of the value agenda, a supporting information technology platform, enables the prior five components. As a result of this practice, health care IT systems have traditionally been divided into departments based on geography, service type, and data type (for instance, images). Frequently, IT systems obstruct rather than facilitate coordinated, interdisciplinary treatment. One cannot automate faulty service-delivery procedures since IT is merely a tool (Orzol, et al. 2018). There are several ways that an IT system may assist in bringing together the many components of an IPU and facilitating the implementation of innovative new payment and reimbursement models.
Six fundamental components are necessary for a value-enhancing IT platform. The first one is that patients are at the heart of everything. Patients are tracked throughout their treatment, from admission to discharge, testing to physical therapy, and all in between. Information about patients is aggregated rather than information about specific departments, divisions, or places (Yang, et al. 2021). Secondly, common data definitions are used. Standardization of terminology and fields of data for diagnostics, lab values, therapies, and other areas of care enables data to be analyzed, transferred and searched across the entire system since everyone is speaking the same language. Thirdly, patients’ medical records are all included in the system (Yang, et al. 2021). Everyone involved in a patient’s treatment gets access to all of the patient’s medical records, photos, chemo prescriptions, blood tests, and other data in one location (Gardner, et al. 2019). Additionally, every member of the healthcare team may view the patient’s medical records that cover patients and recommend doctors. Using a simple “stress test” inquiry, it is essential to establish whether visiting nurses and doctors can view each other’s notes in an IT system. In most cases, “no” is the correct response. Sharing information across various sorts of doctors, such as in IPUs, has to become a daily occurrence (Gardner, et al. 2019). Patients should also be able to schedule appointments, renew medicines, and interact with physicians using a single set of patient information in the correct medical record. Patient’s functional status and pain levels, for example, should be simple to ask about using this new technology (Orzol, et al. 2018). Lastly, the design of the system facilitates the extraction of data. Using natural language processing, data required to monitor patient-centered expenses and manage patient risk factors may be easily retrieved in systems focused on delivering better value to their users (Orzol, et al. 2018). Additionally, these systems allow patients to report results on their treatment, not just after their care is complete and not only while they are receiving it, to aid in improved clinical decision-making. Such data creation and extraction is still a major problem in even the most modern systems. As a consequence, monitoring results and expenses becomes more expensive than it should be.
As the world embraces technological advances, so should the different organizations in the diverse global economy. The health sector has incorporated technology in various angles, and at different degrees. The future of technology is bright, and its impact will be felt across all borders. Health Information Technology is an example of the technological advancements experienced, and the health sector is one of the sectors that will benefit from technology.
References
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