Research on the Web, Social Networking and the Network
Patton-Fuller Community Hospital Networking Virtual Organization
In the past few decades, in the increasing demand for technological innovation has taken the world by storm as all commercial, government and private organizations have relied to the convenience offered by technology in monumentally fast-tracking their operations. Among the many organizations that adapted into technological integration are hospitals and Patton-Fuller Community Hospital is no different. There are many technological advancements that aids organizations in infusing all elements of their business in one place and that is the use of The Web, Social Networking and Networking itself. Using the three has their own advantages and organizations have many options and variations of features that they integrate into their web portals to achieve maximum business efficiency.
As for Patton-Fuller Community Hospital, linking all aspects of their operations means higher efficiency in their services and human resources management. Employing the most competitive individuals to work in the hospital paired with strong policies and procedures in terms of handling equipment and workflow. This will enable them to deliver high quality services and patient information security. In order to obtain that goal, the hospital created a Logical Network Interconnections that will work as a network of different systems linking all departments. Patton-Fuller Community Hospital has created a platform of web-based functional structure based on an IT Network Perspective it is also called a virtual organization. There are two kinds of virtual organization called e-commerce and e-business. They are common terms referring to business processes initiated through a website with the aid of internet connection. These two are sometimes interchangeable, but there are certain differences that set them apart from each other. E-commerce usually covers an outward process that aims to reach customers, external partners and suppliers. Basically, the idea behind e-commerce is to gain revenue or to lose current revenues in exchange for gaining new customers. It is easier to implement because it only consists of three integration types namely vertical, front-end and web applications linked to cross-business integration and transaction systems (Bartels, Andrew. October 30, 2000).
E-business on the other hand also has e-commerce elements on it, but it is more focused on the internal processes of the organization such as risk management, production, finance, knowledge management, product development, inventory and human resources. It is more complex and the main initiative is not directly towards gaining new revenues, but to improve efficiency, cost savings and productivity (Bartels, Andrew. October 30, 2000). This is rather difficult to execute because of its process complexity and it uses four integration direction both vertically and horizontally on front and back end web systems between its business affiliates.
Patton-Fuller Community Hospital is creating an e-business infrastructure based on their network interconnections diagram. The project that the hospital is working on is called Data Warehouse. A one stop data repository system that will serve as a data bank where all the patient information, knowledge base, training, data collection, information dissemination and distribution across all hospital departments. Data Warehouse is an example of an e-business system therefore, Patton-Fuller have created an e-business system rather than an e-commerce web portal. There are several services that the hospital's web portal offers such as storing and retrieving notices from CDC as well as the State Health Department concerning disease outbreaks and infections. The web portal will also have pharmacy documentation tracking and archiving, patient personal details and health information.
It would be very helpful for the hospital staff to consolidate patient's data in terms of tracking the medical history, medication, health condition and allergic reactions. Security augmentation would also improve because CCTV footage will no longer be stored in hard media such as VHS or DVD. Employee's personal information would also be accessible within the web portal. Another important services that the web portal will offer is the integration of hospital equipment management wherein the maintenance, training, purchases, warranties and equipment manuals will also be made available in the web portal. Hospital records would also be made available through the web portal which will make data mining easier especially for instances of medical records requests. Patient's medical records is probably the most important thing that the hospital must integrate into the system because of instances of security breach wherein patient's record stored in a CD was lost. Such incident is a huge violation of HIPPA policies protecting patient's medical records from unauthorized people. Human resources will also have the convenience of posting their job openings over the web portal that can be made available to view internally and externally.
Other hospital's web portals offers different kind of services such as online counselling. This kind of service is helpful in such a way the potential patients would have the chance to raise their concerns about their health at their own convenience without seeing an actual specialists. It is something that was not mentioned in the program that Patton-Fuller Community Hospital is constructing, convenience is one thing, but online counselling also has its downsides. For instance, some hospital web portals do have online counselling, but it generally asks for personal details and the risk of exposing the patient's health condition is high because there is no guarantee that the patient is indeed talking to the right specialist. It could have been better if counselling feature on the web portal would be limited to general inquiries without any disclosures of any health conditions, it would be better to just add a feature where the patient can set an appointment with a specialist by selecting a particular health category. There are also some hospital web portals that offers to request for medical records online, which is also one of the services that were not mentioned to be integrated into Patton-Fuller Community Hospital's web portal. It could also mean convenience For many, but it would also be risky considering incidents of data piracy in the internet and the chances of the patient's medical records getting into the hands of the wrong person. The HIPPA regulation states that all entities covered by the policy should at all times protect the patient's medical records by putting it in a safe and well guarded place that viewing so as requesting the information should be limited to the patient and the healthcare provider only (Hhs.gov. N.D.). Having a service feature on a web portal allowing a request for such information already violates the HIPPA regulation since online database is not considered a secured storage. Besides patient's requesting for their medical records should come personally and work on request papers in order to obtain according to HIPPA (Hhs.gov. N.D.).
Patton-Fuller Community Hospital's web portal can still be improved to be expanded into several more useful and relevant services that will enable higher efficiency. For example, the web portal can have an outside vendor service such as prescription drug availability link where the patient can check if their medication is available at a certain pharmacy. They can also have an auto-refill order by delivery that will allow the patient to order their medication online which would mean convenience for the patient. The hospital web portal could also include external links to speciality clinics affiliated to the hospital where they can direct the patients for special health needs. There could also be nutrient help guides and wellness section that the patients can browse through and order once interested. Some hospital web portals have sections leading to several foundations. Having such in the web portal would enable less fortunate patients who can't afford hospitalization to contact foundations and seek assistance for their healthcare needs.
One of the most popular network innovation nowadays that are already being used by many companies as well as healthcare providers are social networking sites. Social networking sites as the name suggests connects thousands of people within the community and millions more within the country. Patton-Fuller can use the same platform to promote reputation because of the posting and real-time status updating in the social networking sites the hospital can use it in terms of publishing accomplishments and service breakthroughs. Social networking ensures wide audience for the hospital, once interesting news about their accomplishment and new service offers are out on the social networking sites, social connections will definitely know about it.
Most of the time the reason that an organization is less successful than others, despite their exceptional services and product offers is because of the fact that the market knows very little about them. The same notion can be applied to Patton-Fuller Community Hospital no matter how brilliant their service offers will be if only a minority of the population are aware it the hospital would still fail on delivering their services. Reaching out to the community can be a lot easier when using social networking as a platform since a large majority of the people has access to at least one of the social networks. The initial benefit of the using social networking is to build a significant number of followers, once followers and connections are made the hospital can build their brand making them on top of choice as a primary healthcare provider in the community.
Bartels, Andrew. (October 30, 2000). The difference between e-business and e-commerce. Computer World. Retrieved May 26, 2012, from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/53015/The_difference_between_e_business_and_e_commerce
Hhs.gov. N.D. (N.D.). How Is This Information Protected. Health Information Privacy. Retrieved May 26, 2012, from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html
