Part 8 “IT Governance Analysis”
IT is one of the most important components of virtually every aspect in today’s organizations. IT governance refers to the leadership, organizational structures, processes, as well as relational mechanisms that help an organization’s IT sustain and extend its objectives and strategy (De Haes & Van Grembergen, 2004). Some of the roles of developing and maintaining IT governance mechanisms include understanding the value and impact of IT investments, identifying opportunities for improved utilization of IT, supporting visible and transparent decision-making, enabling the tactical and strategic alignment of IT with organizational priorities and goals, establishing and sustaining effective IT policies to contribute to the organization’s success, and identifying and mitigating risks that can threaten organizational development.
Part 9 “HCIS Issues and Challenges”
Health care information systems (HCIS) can help improve the quality and safety of care provided to patients or on the contrary, pose great risks to them. HCIS face numerous challenges regarding interoperability, usability, and IT safety. Concerning usability, healthcare professionals operate in high-risk, complex, and chaotic environments prone to interruptions and disorganization; the overwhelming amount of information makes the use of HCIS difficult (Chou, 2012). Increased interoperability of HCIS plays a key role in the improvement of patient safety. However, important information is not easily transmitted or understood by people dealing with HCIS. As such, it is crucial to develop standards that support interoperability throughout HCIS (Chou, 2012). Regarding health IT safety, there are increased incidences of loss or illegal access to patient data in the information systems.
Part 10 “Health Information Systems in Action”
Population health management solutions represent a shift from applications used in recording patients care to applications that focus primarily on the development of the patient health plan (Glaser, 2016). This does not necessarily mean replacing traditional EHR that are used to document patients’ care but complementing it. EHRs, registries, risk stratification, health information exchange, and telehealth, among others, are essential components of population health management that help align care team members with other stakeholders and contribute to the engagement of patients under their care (Glaser, 2016). The use of data in population health management provides intelligence that enables the monitoring, prediction, and continual improvement of care provided to patients.
References
Chou, D. (2012). Health IT and patient safety: Building safer systems for better care. Jama, 308(21), 2282-2282. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK189662/
De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2004). IT governance and its mechanisms. Information Systems Control Journal, 1, 27-33. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bfba/4d861caecc29f1a53c218534944e9deeff0d.pdf
Glaser, J. (2016, June 13). All oads lead to population health management. Hospitals & Health Networks. Retrieved from https://www.hhnmag.com/articles/7332-all-roads-lead-to-population-health-management