Hit system planning and implementation

HIT System Planning

This study examines the four phases of HIT systems, the key members of the steering committee and why they are important, and the importance of needs assessment. HIT is the abbreviation for Health Information Technology, which is stated to have four steps to adoption including; (1) planning; (2) selection; (3) implementation; and (4) maintenance. (American Medical Association, nd) This work examines specifically a long-term care facility adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT).

Preparation

Preparation includes daily operators that are changed by Health IT including provider workflow, nursing workflow, billing process, front desk process, scope/complexity of IT infrastructure and revenue/expense mix. The changes begin by defining the organization's needs in terms of what is needed by the HIT. Secondly, it is important to determine the organizational readiness and to gain the information concerning other individual's "experience and lessons learned while implementing and using health IT. Current processes should be documented during the planning phase with key tasks including:

(1) Asking everyone in the practice to list their daily roles and responsibilities and to identify tedious and reparative tasks and rate them according to their complexity (American Medical Association, nd);

(2) Make a master list of everything your practice currently does on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; use this list to evaluate the software.(American Medical Association, nd) (3) Calculate completion times for each task; understand which tasks could easily become electronic. (American Medical Association, nd) )

(4) Create diagrams of how information flows throughout your practice; and (5) Conduct a few model patient visits. Identify snags and slowdowns -- walk the charts through each handoff and document where modifications are needed (American Medical Association, nd).

Also included in the planning stage is planning for personnel including the key roles as follows:

(1) Physician lead -- defines and sells vision; identifies requirements and selects health IT system; help build and enhance health IT; resolves conflicts (American Medical Association, nd) )

(2) Project lead -- assists with health IT system selection; manages coordination of software, hardware, special projects and training activities; helps train and troubleshoot (American Medical Association, nd) )

(3) Super user -- trains existing and new staff; assists with upgrades and troubleshooting; implements special projects IT analyst (may be subcontracted) -- builds and supports health IT network, deploys hardware (servers, PCs, printers, scanners, electronic faxing, etc. (American Medical Association, nd) )

(4) Performs software configuration, hardware configuration, special projects such as interfaces (American Medical Association, nd); and (4) Remaining staff are key project stakeholders and should provide knowledge to the health IT plan and vision. They may be responsible for special tasks as required by the project plan (American Medical Association, nd).

The planning stage includes technology planning and capital planning. In order to minimize surprises, it is necessary to develop a "detailed budget outlining expenses in the following categories:

(1) Health IT software and related services (includes interfaces)

(2) hardware/network and related services;

(3) Internet labor expenses (time spent on training data-entry, etc.);

(4) temporary decline in provider productivity; and (5) financing expense (American Medical Association, nd) )

II. Selection

The second step in the process of adopting HIT is that of 'Selection' which involves the selection of a system that can be either 'formal' or 'informal' in nature. The third step is that of implementation and includes the following:

(1) preparation of technical requirements from your workflow analysis and other practice needs and match these to the products and services offered by a vendor (American Medical Association, nd)

(2) Develop evaluation criteria to maintain consistency when ranking vendors (e.g., cost, usability, integration with current technology, depth of training and technical support) (American Medical Association, nd)

(3) Involve representatives from all areas of your practice in the decision process (American Medical Association, nd)

(4) Consider certified technology vendors, particularly if you plan to participate in a federal EHR incentive program (i.e., CCHIT, InfoGard Laboratories Inc., Drummond Group Inc., ICSA Labs; SLI Global Solutions, and Surescripts LLC for ePrescribing and privacy and security) (American Medical Association, nd)

(5) Research and create a short list of vendors that meet your technical requirements. Start by asking colleagues for recommendations (American Medical Association, nd)

(6) Prepare for health IT vendor demonstrations with detailed questions and requirements (American Medical Association, nd)

(7) Ask for -- and follow up on -- referrals, testimonials and recommendations from vendors. (American Medical Association, nd)

III. Implementation

The third step is implementation and includes the following:

(1) plan the exam room and office setup according to the office workflow (American Medical Association, nd)

(2) crate a plan on how to handle paper charts and a system for archiving records if converting to EHR (American Medical Association, nd)