Health Information Technology Upgrades and Maintenance

Health Information Technology Upgrades and Maintenance
Introduction
It can be argued that health information technology is a vital resource to healthcare providers globally. The Epic system solution is an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that takes this model and improves it to meet diverse health system needs. This report recommends implementing the Epic system in Trident Hospital, including the reasons for such suggestions, discusses the primary features of the Epic system, and examines the acquisition and implementation procedures for the EHR system, including what to expect. It also discusses the different standards and policies associated with Epic system implementation, including the associated benefits and potential barriers to effective implementation.
The Recommended EHR Product and Rationale.
I recommend that Trident Hospital’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) choose the Epic System over other EHR systems for various reasons. First, Epic provides reliability and sustainability. Healthcare organizations using the Epic system are competitively positioned within the healthcare market, thus boosting their capacity to attract and retain highly qualified and competent practitioners. The company also hires nurses and physicians; thus, Trident hospital would use them to facilitate client visits to the platform and direct feasible practices. As Trident Hospital seeks to attain and sustain top-notch Meaningful Use efficacy thresholds, it must demonstrate confidence in its EHR efficacy in the long run. Secondly, Epic systems can effectively deliver positive outcomes in the healthcare organization and the healthcare system at large. The Epic system is a comprehensive EHR system – its product suites were designed to create synergy with the existing hospital operations and culture (Coquerel, 2016). This generates economies of scale for designing analytic and reporting information systems centered on shared instruments or resources.
Third, the Epic system has well-established procedures for its experts; mainly, those with the necessary certifications are allowed to direct system implementation. In this context, the vendor provides module or solution-specific education as well as mandates experts to demonstrate competency in the EHR solution. In addition, the Epic system is recommended because it has a proven track record for its worth in healthcare organizations, health systems, as well as other hospitals across the United States (U.S.). Some healthcare organizations already using Epic systems include Mount Sinai Health, John Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Health, and Baptist Health. Lastly, Epic systems’ inherent scalability would enable Trident Hospital to use its software. The company provides a scalable and flexible foundation that could meet Trident Hospital’s varying workflows and budgets, thus supporting the healthcare facility’s growth (Coquerel, 2016). Moreover, Epic Systems’ certified consultants would guide customization to integrate Trident Hospital’s scope and size.
Features of Epic System
Some of the crucial features of the Epic system include clinical workflow management, patient health information management, operations management, and other added efficiencies. Regarding clinical workflow management, Epic allows healthcare professionals from any department to access and update patient health information. It allows ancillary care provider access by enabling healthcare professionals from other health systems to access patient information and thus deliver their services more effectively. The report also generates reports that offer insight into a practice’s financial and clinical health and ensures that the Hospital practices comply with Meaningful Use initiatives. Regarding clinical documentation, Epic simplifies charting and patient documentation tasks. Patient health information management is another crucial feature of the Epic system since it enhances ePHI storage, interoperability, and patient workflow management. Epic electronically stores and secures patient records, thus enhancing their confidentially and privacy. Regarding interoperability, the Epic system facilitates streamlined sharing of clients’ data through seamless integration into necessary third-party health software (Kruse et al., 2017). Epic facilitates patient workflow management by enabling providers to track and monitor the movement of clients through the health care system or practice.
Operations management is another Epic feature that I feel is important because it would facilitate Trident Hospital’s administrative processes, back-office processes, workflow coordination, and practice specialty support. The Epic system simplifies and supports administrative processes such as documentation management, inventory, registration, and reporting. The Epic system would also simplify and support back-office processes such as finances/billing, scheduling, recordkeeping, registration, and alignment, or integration with third-party resources and/or solutions. In addition, the EHR system would facilitate workflow coordination by enabling the augmentation of all processes and tasks via improved workflows, effective coordination of different systems, and intra- and inter-departmental communication. Moreover, Epic provides practice specialty support by tailoring functionality centered on given specialty practice nuances. Additional efficiencies associated with Epic systems include patient information management, integration with billing software, compliance, and integration with EHRs. The Epic monitors and tracks patients’ demographic information. It also enables the healthcare organization to integrate it into revenue cycle management (RCM), insurance solutions, and health billing for effective maintenance and recordkeeping. It also maintains practice compliance regarding healthcare regulatory requirements and mandates (Kruse et al., 2017). Lastly, the Epic system can be effectively integrated into Trident Hospital’s EHRs to facilitate adequate information flow.
Acquisition (what are the steps and what to expect)
The first step to acquiring an EHR system is understanding the various types of physician-hosted and remotely hosted solutions. One pathway to conceptualize the available EHR solutions entails considering the context within which the data is located or, rather, the server location. The physician-hosted EHR system stores data on the doctor’s servers. Besides procuring the software and the hardware (coupled with the servers), Trident Hospital’s physicians would be tasked with security, monitoring, as well as data backup. Whereas data remains within the physician’s control, vendors might incorporate a disabling code into the software. This implies that the vender could hold the data hostage in case of a disagreement (including one related to price disputes). In this vein, it is expected that the Epic system (as a medical innovation) would be vulnerable to emergent risks. Accordingly, Trident Hospital physicians must keep in mind the potential for threats and thus manage the possible liability risks linked to the Epic system. Under the remotely hosted system, the Epic system data is kept on a different facility’s servers. In this context, the other facility would be tasked with data storage, backup, security, and maintenance (Neal, 2011). Accordingly, this data is within the third party’s control instead of within the control of the Hospital’s physicians.
After understanding the different types of EHR systems available, the physicians should then take into account the contractual issues as well as establish how they could impact clinical practice. At the same time, acquiring an EHR system has a wide range of commercial aspects. The fundamental points discussed below should be considered to mitigate professional liability risks associated with EHRs. First, data ownership is an important point to consider. In this vein, good documentation facilitates the client’s care quality and constitutes the provider’s primary approach to indicating responsible practice, especially during treatment delivery. Courts conceptualize a prudently preserved treatment record as a healthcare professional’s written testimony. Physicians must elucidate clients’ health data rights at the beginning of health information technology vendor engagement. Accordingly, the inability to accomplish this leads to patient harm, especially when the records are not availed for care continuation, disability claims, personal litigation, or other critical uses (Neal, 2011). Additionally, physicians are likely to face high liability once they try to safeguard themselves from healthcare mismanagement or misconduct liability suits, particularly without clear medical records evidence or support.
Operational considerations, including...