Major reasons for Health Information Technology (HIT) implementation failures
250 words minimum
1. Describe and discuss some major reasons for Health Information Technology (HIT) implementation failures.
2. One goal of EHRs is to facilitate providers’ sharing of clinical information with patients to encourage patient involvement in decision-making about treatment plans. What might be some the potential advantages and disadvantages to providers and patients of sharing this information.
Reply to the following posts (70 words each post)
Post #1 MJ
HIT stands for Health Information Technology, which is basically computer technology used to record, store and analyze data collected. Three essential components that are needed in order to have a succesful HIt implementation are Technology, Culture, and Policies & Procedures. Each of these components had issues and problems alike. Culture for instance, which is said to be the most important of the three is the most critical but least studied or understood. One of the main reasons this componenet had failures was becuase firstly it required physicians and/or any person(s) working in the health field to become familure with computers and entering information per patient. Computers were not around back in the day, so for those who have never used a computer, it took time to now learn how to use one. Many did not want to use this type of new system as they were comfortbale the way it always had been. A chaneg in work culture arised.
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Second component that important was the technology itself. Ordering and implementing the right technology program took a lot of trials and failures. Software systems had to be customed designed, built, than maintained by people like programmers and engineers. This became another expense that had to be added to the budget and sometimes financially it wasnot worth some businesses financially to do so.
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Third issue was regarding policies and procedures. Many places of employment had or have different forms and variations of procedures and policies , so it became difficult for HIT system emplementers to enter and program the software to be tailored to each entity using the technology. Another main issue that made challenges for HIT is that questionof who bares or takes on the cost of these systems? Is it the person receiving the benefits, or is it the person givng the technology to the patient. The main issues was for smaller business’s or private practices. Not only did they have to buy the hardware and install it, they had to now train employees onthe software, hire a perosn to maintain the software, and much more. This was a very expensive new investment for many, which made it hard on many practices for a while.
Post #2 MT
HIT implementation failures can be due to technology, policies and procedures or culture. For example, technology can lead to implementation failure if the equipment is too expensive or if it is very time-consuming for the providers to use the new technology. Implementation failure can also occur due to procedures of the workplace which regard how and what information is documented such as lack of formal documentations. Implementation also fails due to cultural aspects, such as if the staff are unwilling to change their ways of work and learn new methods. If not implemented and monitored correctly, HIT have the potential to pose a severe threat to the patient’s health with a chance for lethal consequences due to implementation failure.
Also, failures may arise from technical reasons and from data and information problems. The user may perceive that the presented data and information is irrelevant, too narrow in coverage or not specific enough. Conceptual misunderstandings may also lead to failure; the system does not solve the real problem or there are misunderstandings regarding the required functionalities.
Other example is the use of electronic health records (EHRs). EHR can improve diagnoses and reduce medical errors, they are vulnerable to cyberattack. Data security can also be compromised by issues with system interoperability. EHR systems are not always readily compatible with other healthcare IT solutions, meaning that matching patient records can be a major headache for healthcare practices. The resulting workarounds not only compromise patient care, but they can also expose patient data to security breaches.
Requirements: 250 words the discussion, 70 words each reply
Answer preview Major reasons for Health Information Technology (HIT) implementation failures
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