Electronic Healthcare System Issues - Research Paper Example

Electronic Healthcare Information [Introduction] Electronic Healthcare System Issues Introduction In the challenging environment of healthcare where there are large numbers of patients to be treated at one time, there are information technology systems to assist healthcare organizations in such challenging situation. Electronic healthcare system is one supportive information technology system that assists the healthcare organization for record maintenance and data management. The system is quite advanced and adaptive to automate the clinical operations of the healthcare organization. It provides the communication assistance and assistance of comprehensive record keeping in the healthcare organization. This paper is about to produce a report on electronic healthcare system. The report will analyze and assess the challenges which are involved in the system. What can be done to overcome the challenges will also be covered up in the report. The paper will come out supportive to information managers in the healthcare. It will guide and assist the professionals to manage their healthcare system in an effective manner. Body Content Risks and Opportunities involved in sharing Clinical Data In a busy healthcare organization environment where there are large groups of patients treated on the frequent basis, there are several risks involved in patients’ exchange of information. There are some external and some internal risks involved in client’s data sharing. There are risks of patient’s identity exposure, identity mismatch or conflict, and data steal which could result in by the clinical data exchange. Similarly, there are simultaneous risks of identity fraud, distortion of patients’ healthcare record, and distortion of patients’ medication record through healthcare data exchange (American Medical Association, 2013). The responsibility and obligation lies on the healthcare organizations, that they protect patients’ personal information by making their electronic health system protective and less vulnerable. If the information systems are strong and protective enough, they can ensure the safety of patients’ personal records, managing the records just for the sake of patients’ effective care and treatment. For healthcare organization, information is an asset which if gets managed is a value to the organization and if gets lost or detracted is a complete damage to the organization (American Medical Association, 2013). In healthcare information integration is an essential element required which is obtained through deliberated data sharing and exchange. Exchanging patients’ personal clinical data links all the departments together. The departmental coordination makes the patients’ care qualitative. This is one major opportunity that lies in the clinical information sharing (American Bar Association, 1994). On further, data pooling (sectional data sharing) comes out valuable for research departments of the healthcare organization which is made possible through purposive information sharing. Looping information from one period of patient trial to another is enabled through data exchange. Conducting a clinical research gets easier when pooled information is available on the research desk. Information sharing provides the data to the researchers which is further required for the scientific argument (American Bar Association, 1994). On further, information sharing keeps departments proactive. When the information required for patient’s treatment is available at the right first time, the treatment gets effective as it gets done on the real time basis. This is an opportunity which usually most healthcare organizations avail by looping and pairing the information in the sectional order. According to Deborah Zarin (the director at the National Library of Medicine), information sharing brings transparency in the health care operations (National Academy of Sciences, 2013, p. 4). It brings transparency on how well the patients are provided care and treatment. Information sharing also gives the opportunity of patient’s retrospective analysis as it allows the data exchange of patient’s past record and trials. Opportunities are deliberately on the line of electronic health information sharing but it is on the organization’s competency of how well it organizes and utilizes the opportunities of such function (National Academy of Sciences, 2013). Current Management Practices for Patient’s Information Privacy (200 Words) Patients’ trust is a valuable asset for a healthcare organization. In the contemporary trend, if an organization is trusted it means it is accredited by its patients and by its people. The responsibility lies on organizations that they maintain the trust of patients by carrying their information safely and securely (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009). In recent practice it has been found that healthcare centers keep patients’ information accessible. They keep the information opened to the departmental level to make patient’s care efficient and to the most quality. Actually, it is the requirement of healthcare networks that they have quick and easy access for patient’s private information. This may include patients’ personal record of medication, record of treatment and disease. To make sure that the internal operations of healthcare are effective, accessible information is important feature of healthcare electronic system. This is what improves the quality of service in the healthcare and so as the efficiency of the electronic networks which give push to the entire healthcare operation (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009). From modern practices in healthcare it can be assessed that organizations are centered around on the quality care service. For getting higher quality, organizations utilize their electronic healthcare system which transmits the information purposively and with high protection (American Medical Association, 2013). Affects of interoperability on information sharing In health care information is mostly shared by means of paired sub-grouped systems. Such systems are heterogeneous and are of dissimilar nature. To loop such systems to one central objective (information sharing) is a challenge for health care organizations which are dealing with major volume of patients at a single time of operation. Such dissimilar systems are unlike in their content, information and output due to which multiple looping is required to pass on the information sufficiently. Actually, it is the ability of an electronic health information system that it incorporates with all the heterogeneous sub-systems at one time. Getting aligning to the sub-systems is a major challenge for the main system as it requires the diversity and flexibility of the system to get adjusted with the other sub-systems (Tan & Payton, 2012). For getting improved in health management and in the preventive care section, organizations have to deal with the interoperable environment which is based on association of departments, hospitals and their close electronic networks (Tan & Payton, 2012). The challenge here for healthcare organizations is of interaction and communication as each unit (system) is working independently from the other unit or system. Lets for example in hospitals there are wards of oncology, cardio, orthopedics or surgery where each ward is carrying independent information with respect to the other ward which is carrying totally dissimilar information. Communicating such dissimilar information is a challenge as it requires the flexibility of the system to get the information transferred. Without communicating information, it is difficult to improve the overall efficiency of the organization which is dealing in the preventive care and health management sections (Tan & Payton, 2012, p. 148). Workflow redesign and clinical documentation system In healthcare workflow redesign refers to the alteration of the information flow pattern. The pattern of the information if changed in healthcare means that the process flow has been redesigned or restructured. This changing pattern of information and process is actually what demonstrates the modification of the workflow infrastructure in healthcare. It is the amendment in the documentation system which results through healthcare workflow redesign. The objective in the redesign is to improve the process of information flow (Chaiken, 2011). If flow of information is non-interrupted, it can increase the overall pace of a healthcare organization. Redesigning means that the direction of flow of information has been changed with an objective to make information more purposive and objective. Definitely, in healthcare departments are interlinked and work in a synchronized manner, which requires the information to flow in the right direction. Synchronization of data is only possible if they layout of the information system is redesigned or restructured (Chaiken, 2011). The example of National Health Authority can be taken in this respect- an organization which transformed the entire IT setup. Keeping innovation and advancement as key objectives, the leadership at NHS transformed its documentation system. The organization modified its workflows by converting all the clinical manual operations into automated ones (Triggle, 2013). From transcriptions procedures to patient care record procedures, all got automated in the NHS. Being one the largest public heath care organizations NHS modified its modes of operation. The organization got modified with the administration documentation processes and clinical information patterns, giving a room to the organization’s individuals to perform and to lead. Efficiency became the motive of the organization when its IT system got transformed and modified (Triggle, 2013). It is through workflow redesign NHS is able to bring quality care for the patients coming up in the large numbers to the organization. All the enrolled regional patients which are carrying health insurances or financial insurances are brought for treatment in NHS. The organization upholds a larger set of data, allowing the patients to get the treatment quickly, adequately and in soothing manner. Administration delays are being avoided and so as the delays in the process flow, as NHS has been quite successful in adapting change in its documentation system. The documentation system is aligned to all the sub-systems of the organization, which has made the organization fast, collaborative and informative to respond. All of this makes NHS as a best organization to describe the workflow redesign operation. Patient Safety with Healthcare Information Technology In the contemporary healthcare practice, organizations are found more concerned about “patients’ safety”. To achieve this goal, organizations held together on electronic healthcare information system which is a troubleshooter of almost all the major problems of a health care organization. To address the core objective of patient safety, organizations entail two more objectives; building a flexible decision support system and minimizing medical errors (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009). After the two primary goals are achieved by monitoring compliance, by minimizing documentation lags, and by coordinating care among departments, the patient safety objective is quite inevitably achieved. Those are the EMR (electronic medical record) systems which actually make this objective achievable. The systems are to ensure the staff convenience and patient convenience by providing quick access to the information to the service providers. Departmental delays which are root causes to patients’ accidents and inconvenience are successfully avoided through EMRs. Such systems are highly coordinative and indulge to solve the problems and risks of patients (Savage & Ford, 2008). In healthcare, information systems are pillars to organizations. They are systems to provide assistance to organizations in each step of the patients’ care process. Just like the information systems CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry) in emergency ward rooms which are solely designed to assist physicians on critical cases. In emergency ward rooms physicians adapt electronic medical record systems to access recently added data of a critical patient. With faster access of information, physicians can more focus on patient’s quality treatment. This is all what leads to safety resulting from the supportive electronic healthcare systems (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009, p. 111). Similarly, the EHR (Electronic Health Record) which keeps the combined data of patients’ problems, medications, trial notes, and test results are there to back primary care physicians. When physicians find such hard useful information in a collective format, they get on easily with patient’s high quality treatment. This ensures safety throughout the patient’s treatment process which includes multiple numbers of trials and multiple data entries (Savage & Ford, 2008). On further, safety is ensured in OPDs (Out Patient Departments) through electronic record systems which manage and maintain larger set of data of out-patients (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009). Patients which are in periodic treatment and not precisely in the stay of the hospital are brought to treatment through EHRs. The electronic health record provides quick access to physicians about patients’ past record, allowing the physician to bring best treatment with intensive care and safety. This is how through innovative information technologies, safety comes out as a motto, a logo and a culture of the healthcare organizations (Croskerry & Cosby, 2009). Security through Two Strong Passwords In healthcare securing patients’ information is the most important task. If a hospital or a healthcare center is not able to secure its patients’ personal information, it can get discredited by the government or the patients who are part of the organization’s system (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). For such reason administrators and managers in healthcare emphasize on securing their healthcare networks. One method of security to networks is by keeping a strong password. Definitely, passwords are to secure the confidential information of the organization and the information which is not in regular use of the organization. Main servers of the healthcare network can be secured through a strong password (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). Here are two strong passwords recommended for healthcare network security: XKCD password XKCD password is a proposition brought by Randall Munroe (roboticist and programmer at NASA). The password is based on four randomly selected common words. It is a strong password for protecting healthcare servers as it strong restricts the brute forces. The password is easy to be memorized as it is formulized on the basis of common words and with strong combination to increase the bits of entropy (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). The higher the number of entropy the more time a brute requires for breaking the password. Four randomly selected words keep at minimum forty four combinations which if get powered up with 2 will make the password highly protected. The XKCD is highly recommended for protecting main servers at healthcare-servers which are not in open use and keep the private confidential information of patients (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). Diceware Encrypting Diceware encrypting is another strong password based on numeric organization of the password. A dice is used in diceware encrypting. Rolling up the dice 5 times assembles a strong five digit password (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). The combination does not end here as the digit numbers are checked on the English coded list. The list translates the numbers to letters and produces an effective and highly protective password. The password is recommended for protecting healthcare mainframes. Safeguarding the patients’ personal information can be made possible through encrypted diceware. Network administrators can also apply the encrypted combination, giving a basic protection to their desktop computers (Cheswick, 2003, p. 142). Healthcare administrators should also keep antivirus for protecting the servers for virus intrusion (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). A regular check should be made on protected computers and servers should be updated with combination of passwords. This enhances the security and protection of healthcare servers and networks (Shoniregun & Dube, 2010). Summary and Conclusion In the challenging healthcare environment where there are large numbers of patients to be treated at one time, there are information technology systems to assist healthcare organizations in such challenging situation. The electronic healthcare system is one supportive IT system for healthcare organizations. The system assists organizations in various operations such as for data administration, data management, information flow and process flow. In addressing the challenges of organization, an electronic healthcare system is also surrounded by certain risks and challenges. There are risks of patient’s identity exposure, identity mismatch or conflict, and data steal which could be brought in an electronic information sharing system. Similarly, there are simultaneous risks of identity fraud, distortion of patients’ healthcare record, and distortion of patients’ medication record in an electronic data management system. The challenges of information technology are important to be analyzed and assessed. This is what provides the guidance and direction to IT administrators in healthcare. This paper has acknowledged IT managers in healthcare for dealing the challenges of the organization and the challenges involved in an electronic healthcare system. The paper has also brought recommendations for healthcare information security and protection. References List American Bar Association. (1994). Information Sharing Among Health Care Providers: An Antitrust Analysis and Practical Guide. Chicago: American Bar Association. American Medical Association. (2013). Patient Confidentiality. Retrieved September 25, 2013, from www.ama-assn.org: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/legal-topics/patient-physician-relationship-topics/patient-confidentiality.page Chaiken, B. P. (2011). Transforming Health Care Through Improved Clinician Workflows. Sacramento: iHealth Beat. Cheswick, W. (2003). Firewalls And Internet Security. India: Pearson Education India. Croskerry, P., & Cosby, K. S. (2009). Patient Safety in Emergency Medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. National Academy of Sciences. (2013). Sharing Clinical Research Data: Workshop Summary. Retrieved September 24, 2013, from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK137823/ Savage, G. T., & Ford, E. W. (2008). Patient Safety and Health Care Management. Bradford: Emerald Group Publishing. Shoniregun, C. A., & Dube, K. (2010). Electronic Healthcare Information Security. Dublin: Springer. Tan, J., & Payton, F. C. (2012). Adaptive Health Management Information Systems: Concepts, Cases, & Practical Applications. London: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Triggle, N. (2013, April 1). NHS structure changes come into force. Retrieved September 25, 2013, from www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21964568 Read More