“How to improve information technology strategic planning effectiveness using balanced scorecard, risk and maturity analysis, case study health information technology? A qualitative studyLinks to an external site.”
Select one case from Cases 15, 16, 17, and 18 in Chapter 14, and assume you are a leader who is in charge of addressing the health information issues in your selected case.
Describe the health information issue(s) presented in your selected case.
Judge the impacts of the health information issue(s) on access to care, cost of care, equality of care, patient engagement, patient safety, or quality of care.
Determine the impacts of the health information issue(s) on health care professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses, other providers, and administrative staff) and the organization’s financial or accreditation status.
Develop strategies to achieve information technology (IT) values, including a proposed health information solution.
Sample Answer
Hypothetical Case Study: Fragmented EHR Systems in an Expanding Health System
Scenario: Our health system, Padgett-Beale (a large organization with 11 acute care locations and 25 clinics, as established in previous contexts), has grown rapidly through acquisitions over the past decade. Each acquired hospital and clinic came with its own legacy Electronic Health Record (EHR) system (e.g., one hospital uses Epic, another Cerner, multiple clinics use various smaller vendor EMRs). Attempts at simple "interfacing" have been costly and ineffective.
The Health Information Issue(s) Presented:
The primary health information issue is the extreme fragmentation and lack of interoperability across disparate EHR systems within the Padgett-Beale health system. This core issue manifests in several critical sub-issues:
- Data Silos and Lack of a Unified Patient Record: Patient information is scattered across multiple, incompatible systems. There is no single, comprehensive patient record that provides a holistic view of a patient's history across all points of care within our system.
- Manual Data Entry and Redundancy: Healthcare professionals often resort to manual entry or reliance on paper charts to bridge information gaps, leading to significant duplication of effort, transcription errors, and delays.