Question
Discuss the ways in which this system might align with an organization’s strategic goals, the processes by which an organization would strategically plan for this system, and the primary stakeholders
Application: Addressing Challenges through Management Information Systems
The types of management information systems used across health care may vary by the setting, but they have in common the objective to streamline and enhance administrative processes and thereby support the institution’s ultimate goal of delivering optimal patient care.
In this Application Assignment, you will explore ways that technology might help address health care management problems with which you are already familiar from past coursework and/or professional experiences, such as issues in human resources, operations, organizational management, or financial management.
Prepare for this Application Assignment as follows:
Identify a specific management challenge in health care that you have learned about through coursework or professional experience. This may be an issue you have researched for an assignment in a previous course, but it need not be. (This week’s Learning Resources include numerous examples of these challenges; review these, as needed, for ideas.)
Conduct an online search to identify and learn more about one management information system (or application) that can improve performance in this area. Find out about challenges to adoption that this technology might pose.
Keeping in mind Chapter 13, “IT Alignment and Strategic Planning,” from the course text Health Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Management consider the various steps an organization would need to take, and the various stakeholders who would be involved, in planning for this system. What would be some of the barriers in planning for this system?
Then write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:
Briefly summarize the nature and purpose of the management information system you selected, and identify the specific health care setting in which it might be used.
What challenge(s) would this system address? Describe how this system would lead to improvements in particular managerial functions. How would you expect this system to transform the organization?
What are key organizational barriers to adopting this system?
Discuss the ways in which this system might align with an organization’s strategic goals, the processes by which an organization would strategically plan for this system, and the primary stakeholders who would be involved.
Sample paper
Management Information Systems
Addressing Challenges through Management Information Systems
With technological advancements, healthcare organizations find several management challenges in their systems. Recent research conducted in the field indicates that more than half of our health care providers systems are faced with a model operational crisis. Consequently, a majority of this population feel that the effect full operational model is unsustainable and following this, the future may be implicated (Taylor, Gebremichael, & Wagner, 2007). The same explains why there is the growing pressure to disrupt the currently existing models and at the same time improve on quality while a cut on the cost is implemented. With the rising trend in the demand, many health care leaders feel the need for a redesigned strategic direction but are convinced that the efficient models in most of the health care systems will not lead them there.
Identify one management information system that can improve performance in healthcare
Most health care providers share one objective, which is a provision of high-quality care to their patients (Suter et al., 2009). Consequently, most of such organizations have embedded their operations on measuring performance, which in return provides the feedback on the effectiveness of this goal. It also creates awareness regarding which changes need to be implemented in attempts to enhance performance. Consequntly, measuring performance also enables health care providers to identify what strategies work well and those that need scrapping. The most distinguishable management information system is the performance measurement, which is the regular collection of data in attempts to measure the effectiveness of implemented strategies and to determine whether the results are being achieved. Performance measurement also analyzes an organization’s blueprint and how it intends to carry out the proposed project.
It is also important to single out that performance measurement is more inclined towards the structure performance of the organization itself and not individual or departmental achievements. Some of the positive impacts of measuring performance include:
- Quality Improvement
- Accreditation or certification
- Recognition as a Primary Care Medical Home
- Transparency for the sake of all stakeholders
- Participation in financial incentive programs for medical centers
The types of performance measures include:
- Structural, which measures the conditions such as the organization’s staff and the health IT systems.
- The process, which measures services provision and whether activities directed towards service delivery to the patients were adequately performed.
Find out about challenges in the adoption of this technology
Some of the downsides of performance management include restriction of employees exclusively towards selective attention to the area being measured at the expense of other areas of organizational functioning. In relation, vague organizational goals have a higher success chance because they can be in different valid ways (Suter et al., 2009). On the other hand, few organizations have benefited from performance management on the performance itself.
Healthcare systems should first devolve the systems in place through a channel of activities such as involving the related stakeholders to find out from the ground what exactly needs changes. The stakeholders, in this case, vary from the organization workers, patients, health leaders and medical stakeholders from other institutions. Challenges include incorporating the reforms in the systems without implicating the current productivity.
References
Suter, E., Oelke, N. D., Adair, C. E., & Armitage, G. D. (2009). Ten key principles for successful health systems integration. Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.), 13(Spec No), 16.
Taylor, M. K., Gebremichael, M. D., & Wagner, C. (2007). Mapping the literature of health care management.
