DHA 8007 Week 1 Assignment System Implementation

System Implementation

Student Name

Capella University

DHA 8007

Professor Name

Submission Date

Slide 01

Hello! My name is ___________. Today, I am going to provide comprehensive information on the potential value, threat and cost of implementing electronic health records (EHR) and practice management (PM) in the medical organisation. However, the staff was not enthusiastic about the change to the new EHR and PM system. As a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the presentation will provide detailed information about the benefits of the new system, which will provide the opportunity to overcome the staff’s resistance to the change.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Slide 02

The cost-benefit analysis has shown that the overall cost of implementing the new EHR and PM system is 73567.30. The price would include the licensing, installation, staff training and regulation compliance. However, the implementation led to a large profit, such as the reduction of administrative costs, simplified clinical performance, reduction in the number of information breaches, and improvement of the level of care quality. The administrative procedures, such as patient booking and billing, can be implemented with the help of the EHR and PM system and eliminate the need for human resources, which is cost-efficient (Javaid et al., 2024).

In addition, the sharing of more information interdepartmentally can lead to decreased rates of readmission of patients and clinical efficiency. Besides this, the data will be captured in the EHR database that cannot be affected by data breaches (Seh et al., 2020). Data on patients may be retrieved in a timely manner, hence enabling staff to provide efficient care, improve the quality of care, and even increase revenues by improving patient numbers.

Resistance to the new information technology (IT) system by the staff, cybersecurity and financial impacts as a result of non-compliance with regulations are the risks that are likely to occur upon the implementation of the new system. First of all, an IT system introduction leads to staff resistance, which reduces healthcare system productivity. Coercing the healthcare personnel into adopting the EHR system can also lead to staff turnover that will affect the overall performance and productivity (Melnick et al., 2021).

Moreover, the fines imposed due to the failure to comply with the regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) affect the economic condition of the organisation (Gaia et al., 2020). Unauthorised access to patient data is likely to affect cybersecurity threats and patient safety.

Slide 03

Pros and Cons of Initiative

The benefits of the new IT system would be a better clinical process and reduced administration costs. The EHR and PM system also helps the staff to arrange appointments and billing better and eliminates the need to have human resources, which lessens the administrative costs (Javaid et al., 2024).

The availability of the patient records is also easily accessible, thus helping the staff to provide meaningful services to patients to improve the clinical workflow. However, initial costs and privacy of data are the negatives of the initiative (Gaia et al., 2020). Using an example, the up-front cost of installation of the new system can be extremely high and therefore affects the financial sustainability of the organisation. Secondly, a lack of effective data protection strategies increases the vulnerability to cybersecurity, which attracts problems of data breach and penalties.

Analyzing Opportunities

Slide 04

The possibilities that can be created, depending on the potential profits and risks, are enhanced standards of care quality, the flow of clinical work, and decreased administrative expenses. To begin with, patient data available to the staff via the EHR system could contribute to offering effective and safe care and enhancing the quality of care in the healthcare organisation (Kumari and Chander, 2024).

Second, the new IT system saves the time and effort of the healthcare personnel on manual data entry, enhancing the quality of care standards. Thirdly, enhanced data management and automation will also lead to fewer administrative employees, which will cost less. Also, medical records enhance decision-making, minimising medical errors (Chimbo and Motsi, 2024). Enhancement in the operational efficiency also aids in serving more patients, enhancing patient satisfaction and loyalty.

Slide 05

Key Opportunities and Threats

The main opportunities of the implementation of the EHR and PM systems are better health outcomes and the simplification of the clinical working process. The system will assist the staff to make informed decisions and offer better patient care since the staff will access the records of the patients. The access to the data in time also facilitated the delivery of good care that minimised the number of patient readmissions and enhanced treatment results (Kumari & Chander, 2024). Also, the electronic data management decreases the coding and billing errors in the healthcare setting as well.

Nevertheless, the dangers that will be exposed with the new IT system are financial strain and data breach problems. An EHR/PM system demands capital investment on the initial implementation and maintenance that imposes a financial burden on the organisation (Gopidasan et al., 2022). Also, the non-existence of data privacy measures elevates the chances of patient trust and satisfaction being compromised by means of a data breach, which has an impact on the reputation of an organisation.

Strategy to Endorse IT Conversion

Slide 06

The strategy that is viable to affect the various levels of the organisation, particularly providers, to support IT conversion is through collaborative decision-making. It is relevant to develop buy-in among the stakeholders, including the administrative, clinical, and other staff members, to implement the EHR and PM system (Laurisz et al., 2023). The IT conversion endorsing strategy consists of two steps. First of all, the major stakeholders, which include the healthcare providers, the administrative personnel, the finance personnel, and the IT staff, will be involved in the decision-making process.

Secondly, the long-term outcomes of IT conversion are given to make sure that every stakeholder understands why IT is necessary in the healthcare system. The collaborative decision-making strategy has two steps that will be useful in persuading the stakeholders (Vahdati et al., 2024). The meetings will be arranged to involve the stakeholders in the decision-making process to use the new IT system in the organisation. The meetings will be held to encourage a culture of co-operation among the stakeholders.

Providers will help in converting IT because they will be involved in the process of making decisions. The open conversation during the meeting allows providers to realise how the new IT system can help enhance the level of care quality. The new IT solution would assist in controlling gaps in the existing system, including paper-based administration and the inability to obtain patient records (Sittig et al., 2020).

As an example, an EHR system allows the providers to access the patient data and make an early diagnosis and management, enhancing the health and quality of life. The providers will also be more persuaded to recommend the IT conversion since proper training will be provided on the implementation of the new IT system.

Slide 07

Real World Example

The collaborative approach to decision-making was backed by a real-life example in order to enhance the new IT system. Henry (2023) examined the issues that healthcare personnel had to cope with when adopting EHR technology. The joint work of the staff contributed to determining the major obstacles and the right options that can enhance the efficiency of the clinical organisation. Vos et al. (2020) also examined the role of collaboration in enabling the staff to adopt EHRs in healthcare organisations to enhance the standards of care delivery. Thus, the plan is suitable for the implementation of the new IT system at the healthcare organisation to enhance the efficiency levels of the organisation in its operations.

Stakeholders to Gain Support for Initiative

Slide 08

The stakeholders that are of great significance are the healthcare personnel, IT personnel, administrative and management personnel. The support offered by the healthcare provider is key in determining how the EHR/PM system will be used in enhancing clinical practice. It is important to involve the key providers in the decision-making process to pick the IT system that can enhance the working efficiency of the organisation (Huang et al., 2024). Nurses and other healthcare workers are the ones who are in direct contact with patients during treatment.

The patient’s medical data assists the nurses in giving the patients the appropriate care they need, thereby enhancing the health outcomes of the patients, from patient admission to discharge. In addition, it is the work of the IT personnel to implement the system, maintain it and solve problems. The IT department can help in the implementation of a new IT system due to technical knowledge and expertise (Sittig et al., 2020). The new IT system is also used by administrative personnel to make appointments, process bills and patient data. Finally, the support of managerial staff is also necessary to create a budget plan in order to implement the initiative. The initiative needs managerial support to fund and mobilise resources to carry out the initiative.

It is relevant to analyse the information and evidence provided by the healthcare literature to justify the adoption of EHR and PM systems. A study by Ali et al. (2023) claimed that EHR systems improve operational efficiency through the minimisation of administrative functions like scheduling, billing, and documentation. Moreover, another study by Hamad and Bah (2022) revealed that the use of EHR minimised the risk of medical errors since it gave the patients the right treatment. The EHR and PM systems also decreased healthcare expenditures through the administrative and clinical workflow simplification.

State-of-the-Art IT systems

Slide 09

Blockchain technology and clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are two state-of-the-art IT systems that are being utilised in other medical organisations. The IT conversion can be looked at using two systems to enhance the care quality standards in the medical centre. The first system is the blockchain technology that involves encryption, audit trails, and an algorithm to protect patient information in electronic databases (Agbo et al., 2019). The technology enabled the healthcare personnel to avoid the unwarranted access of data by unauthorised individuals by following the HIPAA law (Real et al., 2024). Also, the blockchain gives control to patients to manage the data as they are authorised to consent on who the data should be disclosed to. The blockchain technology has an audit trail feature that can be used to track data.

The second system is the CDSS, which has been implemented in other medical organisations as a way of offering quality care to patients. The CDSS system assists the staff in providing clinical knowledge and patient data to make well-founded clinical judgments. The passage of accurate information in the CDSS can also be used in the diagnosis, decision-making, prescribing, and monitoring of patients (Sutton et al., 2020). The system also promotes cooperation among healthcare providers, and this enables the staff to provide the right care to the patients to enhance health outcomes.

The coherence of clinical practices is also facilitated by the CDSS tools, and the system sends out an alert or a notification. The alerts assisted the staff in delivering quality care to patients on a timely basis, which resulted in improved health outcomes (Zhao et al., 2023). In the IT conversion, the two systems can be applied to streamline the clinical operation, and this enhances patient safety and health outcomes.

Slide 10

Key Criteria

Data integrity, interoperability, and regulatory compliance are the main metrics that are important to identify the effectiveness of blockchain technology. With the help of blockchain technology, data integrity is ensured, which contributes to the ability to provide accurate data to the medical personnel to develop a treatment plan (Agbo et al., 2019). Also, the interoperability is enhanced with blockchain technology, which increases the exchange of information between various entities of the healthcare organisation. The adherence to data protection laws is also a criterion that demonstrates the efficiency of blockchain technology.

Clinical efficiency and patient safety are the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the CDSS. The CDSS sends alerts to avoid patient injury and enhance safety, which proves the enhancement in clinical efficiency (Sutton et al., 2020). Besides, the CDSS system promotes cooperation among the staff, which enhances the process of diagnosing patients to advance their safety.

Strategic Position of the Organisation after IT Implementation

Slide 11

The IT implementation of the use of technology like hand-held devices and patient portals has helped the organisation to improve its strategic position. Clinical workflow application in organisations through the use of hand-held devices enables a higher approach to care delivery. Mobile devices and other handheld devices can be used to provide information to the healthcare staff in real time to enhance the process of delivering care (Bradley et al., 2020). The patient satisfaction and the process of care delivery were enhanced by the technological adaptation. The new IT system with the handheld device facilities introduces strategic changes to the provision of services, enhancing patient safety and health outcomes.

The other system, like a patient portal system, also assists the organisation to be competitive. Patient portals enable patients to receive medical reports and schedule virtual meetings to enhance health outcomes (Carini et al., 2021). Implementing the new IT system in the patient portals is also improving the organisational image as it focuses on patient-centred care. Furthermore, the patient portals contribute to the increase in the levels of patient trust and satisfaction.

The patient portals enhanced the strategic location of the organisation because the healthcare costs decreased due to the necessity to avoid hospitalisations (Johnson et al., 2023). The integration of the patient portal with the EHR enables the staff to provide efficient care to the patients on the basis of their requirements, reduces readmission rates, and improves health outcomes.

Slide 12

Immediate and Long-term Steps

The short-term measures involve employee education to facilitate the development of the organisation. Resistance to the new IT system will be overcome through staff training. Also, the workshops will be performed to offer insights into how the IT system can simplify the clinical workflow within the healthcare organisation (Cabán et al., 2022). The training will enable the staff to operate the new IT system at a faster rate, reduce the risk of making mistakes, and enhance the safety of patients. As part of the long-term measures, the feedback and the technological adoption will be monitored monthly in order to face the challenges.

The monthly feedback should assist in determining the importance of EHR and PM systems to the organisation. The modifications in the administrative work and clinical productivity will be evaluated to reflect the modifications in the organisational needs. According to the feedback, the technological adoptions will be exploited. Creating a learning culture among the staff to enhance the application of technology in the organisation (Rajamani et al., 2021). The short-term and long-term actions can contribute to the development of the organisation and minimise the staff resistance to the change related to the technology adoption and integration within the healthcare environment.

Probable Expectations of Providers and Patients

Slide 13

The provider and patients provided information on the likely expectations of the usefulness of the new IT system. The new system was supposed to assist the providers in improving the workload and clinical productivity. The EHR and PM systems are likely to get rid of manual procedures like paper-based records and scheduling (Tsai et al., 2020). The IT system that has high-quality algorithms will be created to achieve high efficiency to satisfy the expectations of providers. Moreover, the providers should be able to get access to the appropriate patient information to deliver quality care. The availability of the laboratory reports will assist the staff in making informed decisions, which contributes to the increase in patient safety.

Another risk that should be overcome by providers is associated with the use of paper records, including medication errors, missed visits, or inaccurate information about patients (Holmes et al., 2021). The expectation of the patient is access to the medical record, lab results, and plan of treatment. Moreover, the patients anticipate effective communication with providers in the form of secure messages with the introduction of the new IT system. The patients think that the new system will decrease the waiting time and will provide an opportunity to make an appointment electronically (Chung et al., 2019). The new IT system aims to deliver accurate data to the patient, which contributes to increasing trust and satisfaction.

Slide 14

The effectiveness of a new EHR system will be determined through the focus group discussions and surveys. The survey will also give data concerning provider anticipations and satisfaction with the new IT system (Diño et al., 2023). By means of surveys, the data about the decreased administrative load and enhanced patient safety will also be obtained. Nevertheless, the focus groups will assist providers in giving feedback on the user interface and save time once the new IT system has been implemented.

The perspectives of the patients concerning the new IT system are also gathered with the help of the survey and focus group discussion. In one instance, the data accuracy and the quality of care are impacted by the absence of interoperability between the systems (Hamad & Bah, 2022). Moreover, recent technologies that contain all functions can assist in the management of missing data and offer appropriate care to the patient, which results in improved health outcomes.

Strategic Plan

Slide 15

The IT conversion strategic plan revolves around provider and patient expectations in order to realise a significant IT conversion that will elevate satisfaction, quality care given to the patients, and operational efficiency. The strategy will implement a contemporary EHR and PM system that will enhance clinical, patient information, and data security (Javaid et al., 2024). The providers anticipated that the system would make the process more efficient through the reduction of paperwork, the provision of full information about the patient, continued training and patient safety due to the presence of decision-support alerts. Patients would want to get personal health information, which assists in conveying the healthcare requirements to the providers (Asan et al., 2021).

The strategic goals include ensuring that the system set-up does not interfere with patient care, ensuring provider satisfaction, enhancing patient engagement, ensuring a successful system integration, and having high data protection levels to ensure that the levels of trust and compliance are high.

Slide 16

Implementation Phases and Timeline

The IT conversion plan is an initiative that will be completed in 10 months and will be classified into five phases to ensure success in the implementation.

• Preparation & Planning phase (0-1 months): During the initial stage, a multidisciplinary team that determines the project needs is established.
• Design & Customisation (2-3 months): The second stage incorporates system customisation and integration into other applications.
• Training & Support (4-6 months): The third stage will involve training the providers and the patients, and the help desk will be put in place.
• Pilot Testing (7-9 months): The fourth phase is the implementation of the system in pilot departments to get feedback on how to improve the system.
• System Integration (9-10 months): The fifth phase will involve the introduction of the system in the organisation.

Slide 17

The positive influence of the plan is that the overall efficiency of the clinical organisational activity is enhanced by the implementation of EHR and PM. As an example, patient real-time data will enhance the process of decision-making, and it will result in improved clinical results (Gopidasan et al., 2022).

The plan will also enhance teamwork among the staff, as access to medical records will also be enhanced. Nevertheless, the resistance of the staff and insufficient financial resources may be considered as possible obstacles to the plan and implementation schedule. Firstly, resistance to change, particularly among the healthcare providers, slowed the implementation of the plan. The plan delay requires additional resources, which have an impact on the financial stability of the organisation (Tsai et al., 2020). Also, the extensions in the timeline interfere with the normal running of the organisation, reducing the productivity of the organisation.

Conclusion

Slide 18

The support, risks and costs that are likely to be incurred in the process of implementing the new IT system are given. The main advantages of the new IT system are a simplified clinical workflow and cost cuts in administration. Teamwork in decision-making is a viable approach that can be used to impact various levels of an organisation. The stakeholders of the healthcare organisation are to be identified and involved in the decision-making process that would lead to the successful IT conversion. IT conversion in the medical centre is facilitated by the two advanced IT systems, including blockchain technology and CDSS.

There was an improvement in the strategic position of the organisation following the utilisation of the handheld devices and patient portals. The likely anticipations of the provider and patients provided information about the utility of the new IT system. The strategic plan goal will be to eliminate the resistance to the new IT conversion among the staff and enhance the clinical performance of the organisation.