NURS 8210: Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Technology | Week 6

When changes are implemented or new information technology systems are adopted, organizational leaders have a responsibility to make the transition as seamless as possible. When a system is easy to learn and utilize, this transition is more easily accomplished. When a system is less “user friendly,” this can become a barrier and impede acceptance. By focusing on user needs while developing system designs, those involved in HIT can promote efficacy and buy-in throughout the organization.

This week, you examine how nurses identify and address usability and design challenges in information technology systems.

Learning Objectives – NURS 8210: Week 6: Health Information Technology Systems Essay

Students will:

• Formulate strategies for overcoming usability challenges of health information technology systems
• Analyze the overall usability and design of a health information technology system or application

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Course Text: Ball, M. J., Douglas, J. V., Hinton Walker, P., DuLong, D., Gugerty, B., Hannah, K. J., . . . Troseth, M. R. (Eds.) (2011). Nursing informatics: Where technology and caring meet (4th ed.). London, England: Springer-Verlag.

• Chapter 14, “Usability and Clinical Application Design”

This chapter begins by defining the terms usability and application design as they are used in the field of nursing informatics. The authors then describe the literature review and analytic process that the TIGER Collaborative group underwent to positively transform the development of HIT systems.

Gruber, D., Cummings, G. G., LeBlanc, L., & Smith, D. L. (2009). Factors influencing outcomes of clinical information systems implementation: A systematic review. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 27(3), 151–163.

The authors analyze the outcomes of prior IT implementations to determine if certain strategies can guarantee success when launching new clinical information systems.

Kaufman, D., Roberts, W. D., Merrill, J., Lai, T., & Bakken, S. (2006). Applying an evaluation framework for health information system design, development, and implementation. Nursing Research, 55(2, Suppl. 1), S37–S42.

This article emphasizes the indispensable role of continuous evaluation throughout the development and real-time application of new information systems into the workplace.

Schlotzer, A., & Madsen, M. (2010). Health information systems: Requirements and characteristics. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 156–166.

Use this article to examine the importance of focusing on sound design, interoperability of systems, and fulfillment of user needs when developing an effective database.

Discussion:

Post your responses to the Discussion based on the course requirements.

Your Discussion postings should be written in standard edited English and follow APA guidelines as closely as possible given the constraints of the online platform. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure your in-text citations and reference list are correct. Initial postings must be 250–350 words (not including references).

ADDITIONAL INFO 

Health Information Technology Systems

Introduction

The use of health information technology (HIT) systems in healthcare is growing, but many physicians and administrators still don’t understand how it works. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the benefits of HIT systems and how they can help improve patient outcomes while also reducing costs.

Organization of patient records

Organization of patient records is the process of organizing information about a patient in a way that allows it to be accessed and used. The organization of patient records should be done with the purpose of providing access, understanding and management by different people who are involved in caring for the patient.

Organization can be classified into two main types: hierarchical and non-hierarchical. Hierarchical organization involves grouping similar types such as medication or procedures together under specific headings so that they can easily be found when needed; non-hierarchical organization involves dispersing information onto different levels without any apparent order or logic (e.g., alphabetically).

Prescription drug monitoring

There are many reasons why a patient might be prescribed a medication. A doctor may prescribe it for an illness, or they might give it to treat symptoms that have been caused by another drug. The patient is often unaware of how much they’re taking, how often they take it and where the drug comes from (if purchased on the street).

In order to ensure patient safety, we need better monitoring and tracking systems for prescription drugs so doctors can identify possible misuse by patients and reduce their risk of abuse or overdose. This includes:

• Identifying patients who are at risk for addiction

• Identifying patients who may be abusing drugs

Management of billing and insurance reimbursement

The process for billing and insurance reimbursement is as follows:

• You will need to provide your patient with a summary of services provided, including dates, names of providers and any additional information required by their insurance company.

• Your patients may receive bills directly from your practice or they may be sent by mail. If you send them by mail, please make sure that it’s delivered on time so that they have time to pay it in full before their next appointment date (if applicable). If you’re sending out bills electronically though, then this process can be automated through our system so there’s no chance of late payments!

Electronic health records

Electronic health records (EHR) are a key part of HIT. A EHR is a data collection system that allows providers and clinicians to record patient information, such as patient history and medical condition, onto one central database. This increases communication between doctors and patients because it allows them to access the same information at their fingertips. It also improves quality of care by allowing for better coordination among different healthcare providers who might otherwise be working independently on one patient’s case.

The goal with electronic health records is actually quite simple: They should help us improve our ability to deliver better care in general—and we want this improvement so badly that we’ve spent billions of dollars trying new technologies like EPIC (Electronic Prescription Information and Communication) systems or EMR/EHRs since their inception decades ago!

Medication management

Medication management systems include the following:

• Drug interaction checker – This is a tool that allows you to see which drugs will interact with each other, and what the potential side effects are.

• Drug ordering – This can be accessed at any time via your computer or mobile phone, so it’s easy to order new medications if they’re needed quickly.

• Drug dispensing – You’ll be able to print out prescriptions and have them filled by one of our pharmacists at no extra charge!

• Administration (or administration) refers both to taking an oral dose orally (e.g., swallowing pills), but also administering IV injections through needles directly into veins without having them broken down first by stomach acids; this helps prevent blood clots from forming while on medication since they dissolve faster than solid forms do when consumed orally.* Inventory management refers specifically not only counting how many units exist in stock but also keeping track of why those units exist there—for example, whether something has been recalled due its expiration date coming up soon enough before something happens so as not end up being thrown away because nobody bothered checking before then.”

Clinical pathway design

Clinical pathways are a way to standardize the care of patients. They can be used in hospitals, but they can also be used in other settings. A clinical pathway is designed to improve quality and reduce costs by improving efficiency, coordination and communication between health care professionals.

The development of a clinical pathway begins with an analysis of current practices within the organization and identifies gaps that need to be addressed if you want your organization’s performance on key metrics (such as cost per case or morbidity) to increase significantly over time. Once these gaps have been identified, it’s time for stakeholders across multiple disciplines within an organization such as medicine or nursing at all levels

to come together around specific goals they want achieved through collaboration between different teams within those same departments so that everyone understands where we are going before moving there ourselves!

The use of HIT systems to create efficiencies and improve outcomes

The use of HIT systems to create efficiencies and improve outcomes

The use of HIT systems to create efficiencies and improve outcomes.

Conclusion

The future of healthcare IT is bright. With the adoption of electronic health records and patient data management systems, hospitals and physician offices can better monitor and manage the care of patients with chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. The ability to share information between providers, as well as track medications that have been prescribed will also save lives in the long run by reducing unnecessary complications from drug interactions or side effects from other medications.