Comprehensive Healthcare Strategies
Technology is among the environmental factors that affect the operations of Auburn Hospital. It is a tool that can ensure that the hospital’s operations are efficient. Technology automates the hospital’s operations to achieve its objectives (Mitchell & Kan, 2019). Despite the benefits, technology presents challenges, such as cyber threats. The hospital should consider creating an effective team to manage technology as a solution to these issues.
Overview of the Issue and How It Impacts the Health Sector
Technology has become integral to the healthcare industry, and it is set to revolutionize medical practices. It has greatly improved the efficiency of operations with respect to standards of healthcare. The aspects of technology that affect the healthcare industry are artificial intelligence, telehealth, EHR, health apps, wearable technology, and many more (Mitchell & Kan, 2019). For example, health apps allow healthcare providers to quickly test outcomes, dosing recommendations, and other information they may need urgently. Thus, technology is an environmental factor that automates operations in the healthcare industry.
Stakeholder Groups and Their Perspectives on the Issue
Stakeholders such as hospital managers, staff, government, and donors have a similar perspective on the impact of technology on healthcare. For example, Auburn Hospital believes that technology plays an integral role in improving patient care (NSW Government, 2017). Hospital management has a view that technology has a positive impact on healthcare because it automates operations. The NSW government believes that technology is the way to achieve quality healthcare. On the other hand, donors of hospitals also perceive that technology is responsible for the delivery of quality care.
Challenges and Opportunities Presented By Technology
There are a number of challenges that technology presents to a healthcare organization. The first challenge is the cost factor limiting healthcare’s ability to buy. As a result, Auburn Hospital has relied on governments and donors to acquire technological devices. Secondly, cyber-threat has become a major challenge for hospitals using information technology such as EHR (Dickinson & Wilkinson, 2019). When using technology, hospitals are prone to cyber-attacks, leading to the loss of hospital and patient’s sensitive information. Thirdly, with the adoption of new technology, some stringent rules and standards must be followed. For example, when using EHR, a hospital must adhere to HIPAA confidentiality and privacy rules. In addition, the existence of constant technological disruption makes it difficult for healthcare to remain up to date with technology.
The opportunities presented with the use of technology include attaining competitive advantage, enhancing skills, automation of operations, and improvement of communication. The use of technology enables Auburn Hospital to attain a competitive advantage in the healthcare sector. Technology also gives the hospital the ability to enhance the skills of its staff (Sheng, Amankwah-Amoah, and Wang, 2019). For example, the hospital staff is trained to use the adopted technology effectively (Lehane et al., 2019). In addition, technology enables hospital providers to communicate with patients effectively.
Ethical Responsibilities
There are various ethical responsibilities in using technology to improve efficiency in operations. Firstly, Auburn Hospital must ensure that there is morality in the use of data (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2021). They are supposed to ensure that patient data is only accessible to relevant staff. Secondly, the hospital should ensure that technological devices are maintained and in the right condition before use to minimize medical errors. Thirdly, Auburn Hospital should make sure that key stakeholders are informed before integrating technology (Sigler and Rainey III, 2019). Fourthly, the hospital should ensure that its employees and patients come first before technology.
Recommendations for Strategic Response to the Issues
There are various recommendations that Auburn Hospital should adopt to solve technological issues. Firstly, Auburn Hospital should create a strong and reliable data management team. With this team, the hospital will be able to protect its data (Wang et al., 2019). Secondly, the hospital should foster a good relationship with the government and donors. This will enable the hospital to get support, such as donations from relevant stakeholders. Thirdly, Auburn should mobilize funds to help maintain the information technology devices (Sittig, Belmont, and Singh, 2018). Fourth, the hospital should foster an effective data management technique.
Conclusion
Auburn Hospital has felt the impact of technology on its operations. Technology is an important tool that may ensure that the hospital’s operations are efficient. It automates the hospital’s operations to ensure that its goals are met. As a response to these problems, the hospital might consider forming an efficient technology management team. The hospitals should also ensure that staff is trained to equip them with adequate skills.
Reference List
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Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J. (2021). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (13th ed.). Cengage learning.
Lehane et al. (2019). ‘Evidence-based practice education for healthcare professions: an expert view. BMJ evidence-based medicine, 24(3), pp.103-108. Web.
Mitchell, M. and Kan, L. (2019). ‘Digital technology and the future of health systems. Health Systems & Reform’, 5(2), pp.113-120.
NSW Government. (2017). Auburn Hospital receives life-saving technology – WSLHD. Web.
SE Healthcare. (2020). ‘The Impact of Technology in the Healthcare Sector. SE Healthcare Data Analytics and Solutions.’ Web.
Sheng, J., Amankwah-Amoah, J. and Wang, X. (2019). ‘Technology in the 21st century: New challenges and opportunities. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 143, pp.321-335. Web.
Sigler, K.E. and Rainey III, J.L. (2019). Securing an IT Organization Through Governance, Risk Management, and Audit. Auerbach Publications.
Sittig, D.F., Belmont, E. and Singh, H. (2018). ‘Improving the safety of health information technology requires shared responsibility: It is time we all step up. In healthcare,’ 6 (1), pp. 7-12. Web.
Wang et al. (2019). ‘Leveraging big data analytics to improve quality of care in healthcare organizations: A configurational perspective. British Journal of Management, 30(2), pp.362-388. Web.