Introduction
Information technology involves a technique for the manipulation, assessment as well as the processing of data. Information technology involves the application of computer and telecommunication systems. Information in the current context means electronic data. There was an evolution in the information technology industry for quite a long period, with innovations taking place time after time. The information technology encompassed transistors and integrated circuits. The application of computer systems or servers in business in the contemporary era is rampant (Jones D, 2017). The servers interact with the client users as well as other servers that exist across business networks. The information data involves any form of data that include multimedia, web data, and telephony data as well as the data existent in sensors. The storage of information follows certain measures, including volatile random access memory and the non-volatile such as hard disks, tapes, and solid-state flash drives.
Therefore, the paper entails an analysis of the information technology in a wider aspect, giving detailed description regarding the information technology, and the regulations behind the use and storage of information. It will give an account of the management of information as well as the applications of information technology in the industry. However, much of the analysis will focus on the information technology in the health sector, especially the nurse fraternity.
The research will focus on the technology that is essential in meeting the federal requirements mandated to guide the operations of information technology systems in the health sector. The same federal requirements will affect the general merged healthcare companies and affiliate organizations in all scenarios about health and well-being.
Identification of Team Members
The management team entails the project leader, who specializes in the nursing informatics concerning the scenario. Additionally, the rest of the team involves the stakeholders who are a vital ingredient in the call for the implementation of the up to date technology in the nursing profession. They include a lead nurse, the lead physician, the administrative nursing staff or EHF implementation manager, the laboratory lead, and the information technology lead.
The specialist in nursing informatics who is responsible for the customization of the EMR systems about the requirements of the users in the company based on the workflow trends. Additionally, the same people offer support in diverse areas, like the training and education of the client, while at the same time affecting the maintenance of the system ("hitech - HealthIT.gov Search Results", 2017). The same person creates an avenue for the interaction of the clients with staff to seek ways for improving the healthcare system, to maximize efficiency.
On the other hand, the lead nurse has a significant amount of experience, and hence assists in the needs of the workflow, through shedding light on the impacts of the EMR on the nursing experiences of the entire nursing staff. The information technology lead has old and newly implemented technological equipment, together with the expertise to help with the questions concerning the application of the EMR in nursing programs as well as how to handle errors that arise in the system.
The EMR implementation manger involving the nursing or assistant director ensures that the staffs are aware of the changes, delegating roles, creating the schedules relative to the training programs for the project as well as monitoring the work of the rest of the committee for timely progression of the projects.
Additionally, the staff laboratory lead offers the laboratory assistance in the impartation of information into the system, with adequate recognition of the time limits as stipulated in the regulations governing the project.
Team Members’ Roles
Additionally, the lead physician offers insight to put the health information for better assistance in the patient care and the habits in the daily workflow ("hitech - HealthIT.gov Search Results", 2017). Additionally, they tend to liaise between the committee and the physicians for a positive promotion of the implementation of the system, by keeping the two teams abreast concerning the progress of the process and providing the continued support for the implementation of the project.
The lead nurse, which entails staff nurses or head nurses contributes information regarding the workflow on the units. Additionally, they also give alternative issues that can aid the process of solving nursing problems by use of health information and the ways that apply to improve the provision of health care services. Moreover, the nurses offer motivation to their juniors by guiding them on how to adapt to the new systems.
The IT lead job entails the initiation of software and hardware materials that related to the new health information system. They also offer support to the staff in case of any difficulties. Additionally, the IT lead organizes a FAQ’s guide and offer assistance about the application of the diverse forms of technology required.
On the other hand, the administrative lead is responsible for the EHR implementation, a role that is essential in passing updates regarding the time limits for the system’s operations per day. The administrative lead also organizes for training for the people required to receive extra training about the new system.
Finally, the laboratory staff lead helps the committee to understand the process of the laboratory workflow as well as how it will affect the staff working the laboratory. The same person will offer assistance in influencing the staff to understand changes regarding the passage of information moves and communication to the facility about the critical laboratory outcomes. Additionally, the same leader will assist in the application of important roles, which facilitates how physicians, administrative staff, and nurse will apply the results.
The Team Members’ Expertise
The leaders of every department regarding the team for the project must have the adequate skills to handle the position. They must be able to understand the progress of the work in their jurisdiction, for a better performance of the project. Additionally, the expertise required is a detailed knowledge of the system involving how the system operates, how the problems are arising will be handled as well as what the potential risks would be. For example, the nurse informatics specialist must be able to integrate the information regarding the patient along with the skills of nursing, to facilitate the communication process throughout the organization ("hitech - HealthIT.gov Search Results", 2017). Therefore, every domain or department within the organization must have an informed leader who understands his or her roles in the implementation of the project, and the application of the information technology in the execution of the various roles affiliate to the project at hand.
Interoperability
It involves the ability of the computer system to exchange and use the information in various ways. Interoperability is vital for better information processing because it enables the entire team to access information in any computer system without the need to converge at one room to access information. Additionally such capability of computers to segregate information will reduce the need for a lot of training, because the experienced nurses in each department will be able to train the rest of the new system ("What is EHR Interoperability and why is it important? | FAQs | Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov", 2017). Additionally, interoperability enables the management of the entire system to occur at a central point, where a single person or two will have access to the system, and that brings order and an organized execution of the process.
Standardized Nursing Terminology
A standardized nursing terminology is important in the system because it will lead to uniformity in the system and ease of passing information. Therefore, the standardization of nursing information terminology guarantees uniformity, and when a nurse transfers to another place, they will find the same terms in the application and will not have problems in communication (Jones D, 2017). Standardization of the language ensures that the same terminologies apply in every part of the world in occasions related to the nursing profession. The standardization of the terminologies will make it easy to utilize the terms agreed upon by the nurse parties, as well as understanding the agreements existent in the fraternity. The standard terminologies enable the professional to capture access; represent as well as communicating the information, data, and knowledge. The appropriate authorities must have approved all the standard terminologies.
The Federal Regulatory Requirements
There exists a regulation like the HITECH Act, which is responsible for the establishment of the Health IT Policy Committee, to recommend policies to the national coordinator, as well as the implementation of the health information technology in the entire nation infrastructure ("hitech - HealthIT.gov Search Results", 2017).
Components of the Federal Regulatory Requirements
The two components that meet the federal regulatory requirements include the adoption of the EHR system, and coordinate the care, to meet the required standards of quality. Secondly, the system is organized regarding the roles of each, for a guaranteed execution of the various tasks in the system. The two components will enable the achievement of the goals of the new system.
The Security Threats
The health information is subject to access by the various criminals through hacking the system. Once the hacking process occurs, the system becomes an open gate for all people, especially criminals because the will have access to the information about the entire health facility and the one regarding the patients, like their details ("Acrobatiq", 2017). Additionally, the healthcare information is subject to loss due to viral attack. If there is no active antivirus, the information might get lost. Therefore, it poses a risk to the information.
Privacy Features
. There are also certification standards that an organization must possess. For example, the Public Service Act describes the processes for the evaluation, implementation, and the adoption of the endorsed standards ("Acrobatiq", 2017).
Moreover, there exist the HIPAA, which entails a law enacted in 1996. A dual set of the federal regulations that protect the privacy of the health information. Its privacy power became clear in 2003.
The Industry Standards to Safeguard Information Systems
The health information can be protected through the application of encryptions as well as passwords for the system. Additionally, it is important to minimize access to vital information by many people because the information might get into wrong hands. Additionally, the information is protectable through the regular changing of passwords so that people cannot mark a specific password for a given system. There is also a regular check of the system to ensure that it is updated and there are no modifications of the entry credentials.
Non-clinical Emerging Technology
The emerging technology is applicable in defining the locations of the various health facilities within the country, through the connections with the satellites. Additionally, the emerging information technology provides a wide network for easy communication between health facilities to ensure that the provision of the health services is timely and detailed.
Clinical Emerging Technology
Finally, the delivery of patient care takes place via various ways. To begin with, there are computers operated machines like x-ray equipment that are in application in most parts of the country in health facilities. Additionally, the storage of the patients’ information in computers and other data storage equipment is one of the applications of emerging technologies in clinical contexts.
References
Acrobatiq. (2017). Wgu-nx.acrobatiq.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://wgu-nx.acrobatiq.com/courseware/page/wgu_aimat_dec14/sec_stds_hitech
hitech - HealthIT.gov Search Results. (2017). Search.usa.gov. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://search.usa.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=healthit.gov&query=hitech&commit=Search
Jones D, e. (2017). Standardized nursing languages: essential for the nursing workforce. - PubMed - NCBI. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21639030
What is EHR Interoperability and why is it important? | FAQs | Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov. (2017). Healthit.gov. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/what-ehr-interoperability-and-why-it-important
