Introduction
Health Information Technology (HIT) includes various modern technologies used in healthcare. First of all, HITs are used in order to improve the effectiveness and quality of healthcare. Second, they increase the accuracy of healthcare and prevent medical errors. Third, it helps minimize healthcare costs, increase its efficiency and productivity. They also help get rid of paperwork and improve the overall administrative efficiency (Forrester, Hepp, Roth, Wirtz, & Devine, 2014). Finally, they extend access to healthcare and allow healthcare professionals to engage in real-time communications. On the whole, HIT possesses great potential for the improvement of diverse aspects of health care. Thus, it is now an indispensable part of any healthcare system that makes it much better. Here at Trinity Healthcare, implementation of a Computerized Provider Order Entry required strategic planning and an array of diametrical view in taking the establishment to another level.
Strategy, Vision, and Alignment
The concepts of strategy, vision, and alignment are crucial for leadership, especially in the sphere of HIT. Thus, a strategy is the following of a particular plan focused on the achievement of the company’s goals. A vision is a particular objective that must inspire all members of the company to work as hard as possible in order to achieve this goal (Khanna & Yen, 2014). Alignment is the coherence of the two previous concepts and their close connection with other leadership concepts so that they function together in harmony and bring the maximum result.
In general, the tools of strategy, vision, and alignment are used by leaders to promote HIT innovations, thereby improving healthcare (Snedaker, 2016). A clearly communicated vision and strategy of a company in general, and its HIT department in particular, should be implemented by a leader as an instrument for the advancement of the agenda of HIT. Trinity Healthcare is aware not to follow its competitors and is geared at improving what already exists. It is focused on innovations that would contribute to its competitive ability and create distinguishing features of the healthcare provider. We are to remember a CIO is especially needed as HIT analyzes the strategic organization’s direction. It is crucial to have a person able to guide and give directions because innovative processes and changes demand careful management. Moreover, Trinity Healthcare considers an environmental aspect. The vision at Trinity is simple: To pioneer software that is in harmony and creates a crescendo.
Innovative Aspects in HIT
The innovative character of HIT presupposes certain improvements after its application. Thus, Jones, Rudin, Perry, and Shekelle (2014) speak about the improved outcomes that result from hits such as quality, safety, and efficiency outcomes. For example, the research revealed the influence of HIT on the increase in the quality of outcomes. Also, the direct effect of HIT on patient safety in general and medication safety, in particular, was revealed (Jones et al., 2014). Finally, the introduction of HIT positively influences efficiency-related outcomes such as cost-efficiency or treatment effectiveness that results in the reduction of hospital stay.
There are certain aspects that a good HIT leader should take into account in order to become a better innovator. First, a good leader should know that innovation is a way of improvement. Thus, when applying certain innovative technologies, a HIT leader should always think about the improvements that this innovation will bring (Romanow, Rai, Keil, & Luxenberg, 2017). In addition, a successful leader should be able to develop an ambitious vision and elaborate a good strategy, which will promote innovation. Trinity is prepared at such a task and has unified it’s staffing for such a groundbreaking event.
HIT Governance
In general, information technology governance is the actions implemented to ensure the efficient and effective usage of modern technologies, thereby allowing an organization to complete its purposes (Heath, Appan, & Gudigantala, 2017). In addition, there is certain evidence that it is more difficult for healthcare institutions to adopt IT governance, but they try their best so as not to lose their competitive ability.
The implementation of IT governance is imperative, as it can cause many problems in the modern world. The unwillingness to implement innovative technologies can have a negative influence on an organization, especially in a medical institution. Consequently, one of the tasks of HIT governance is to check if HIT processes and strategies do not contradict the general policy of the company. Also, HIT governance should consider the aspects of financing and consideration of the interests of all stakeholders. Finally, HIT governance is necessary to predict the possible outcomes of innovations and assess the necessary resources, both human and material. In terms of leadership, the concept of HIT governance plays a crucial role (Yen, Phillips, Kennedy, & Collins, 2017). Thus, in order to provide quality patient care, healthcare professionals are constantly involved in the process of communication, governance, and interaction, which help remain the standard services and the accepted quality criteria and, at the same time, not to disturb the process of innovation.
Computerized Provider Order Entry
Computerized physician order entry (or CPOE) is a process of electronic entry used by healthcare providers to treat patients who are under their care (Cresswell & Sheikh, 2013). At Trinity Healthcare it is important for healthcare professionals to take into account potential benefits and obstacles related to the use of innovative technologies.
Benefits of CPO
Certainly, such a program as CPOE is beneficial to healthcare institutions, patients, healthcare providers, and others. The most important advantage of this system is that it makes communication between healthcare practitioners easier. One more advantage is that this system is portable, and the specialists can access it even being far away from their workplace (McCartney, 2014). In addition, this program checks the information on medication mistakes, thereby preventing confusing situations and unnecessary repetitions.
Thus, it can be stated that CPOE is a great program for healthcare institutions. However, in certain cases, it can be misused. That is why effective HIT leadership skills are required in order to provide guidance for healthcare professionals and improve this system (Yen et al., 2017). Basically, stakeholders are ready to implement this new system, but they should place a great emphasis on the importance of the appropriate period of training. The duration of the training period is primarily determined by the level of computer skills of employees and some other challenges (Romanow et al., 2017). Additionally, the implementation of CPOE is quite a difficult task that requires considerable effort from the side of all healthcare specialists and the readiness to keep up with modern trends in the sphere of information technology.
It should be noted that at the global level, millions of errors related to the appointment and distribution of drugs are predicted. This leads to several millions of preventable adverse effects and millions of dollars that represent the costs of the necessary subsequent medical care (Charles, Cannon, Hall, & Coustasse, 2014). Global approaches to collecting, storing, and disseminating data can help reduce the errors made when prescribing and distributing medicine. Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is one of the global standards designed to help solve this issue. The purpose of this paper is to answer three research questions related to CPOE, in particular, it is essential to determine the core of this standard, define its advantages, and evaluate its projected impact.
Details
Here at Trinity Healthcare the core of CPOE lies in the idea that it can replace recipes that are written manually with electronic orders. This approach involves reducing text recognition errors. In addition, the costs for medicines can be reduced by the introduction of this module. With the implementation of this approach, health care specialists are able to use electronic databases regarding medicines, determine their compatibility with other drugs and medications, and refine their awareness on contraindications and so on (Khanna & Yen, 2014). After specialists receive the initial information, they can choose the method of treatment in accordance with medical standards. At the same time, the platform allows taking into account the cost of the medicinal product, the rational combination with other medicines, and the optimal intake regime. Some researchers state that this system will reduce the total cost of drugs up to 15%, which is a weighty argument displaying the need to implement the module across healthcare institutions.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that computerized provider order entry can serve as a powerful tool for reducing the number of medical errors, ensuring patient safety, and enhancing care provision. This type of clinical decision support system can have diverse options for the application. For example, it can use preset rules to evaluate allergies, drug-drug interactions, and drug dosing at the time of ordering. In addition, it can even suggest an appropriate dose by pulling in the patient’s age, weight, and renal function. Such an application is likely to reduce mistakes in medication use and result in improved patient outcomes that is one of the major goals of the healthcare system. However, despite the benefits CPOE brings to Trinity Healthcare, many health care institutions still do not employ it. It can be explained by the complications that can appear during HIT implementation and management. Moreover, many health care facilities do not possess enough resources to introduce HIT. Therefore, this topic can be leveraged to advance research regarding the module implementation and employment barriers that hinder the widespread use of this platform.
References
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