- BUS FPX 4121 Assessment 4 Informational Interview and Course Reflection.
Informational Interview and Course Reflection
The Informational Interview section reveals the contemporary ethical issues and the management of the EHR and HIE from the conversation with the healthcare leader. This interview explores the ethical impartment of managing patient data, the role that external and internal factors place on these practices, and the role of the individual’s ethical standards when considering moral duality. This part of the paper involves focusing on the level of understanding of how ethics are managed in real organizational environments by combining the interviews and practical experiences with the course theories for an elaborated vision (Lee et al., 2021).
As highlighted using recent literature data, the peculiarity of these hardships accentuates the continuous updates concerning the ethical stance and necessities stemming from new technological advancements. The Course Reflection section sums up the major findings of the course, including how the gained insights will influence future professional activities in the sphere of healthcare management. This paper aims to analyze how the ethical theories, rules, and regulations, and even the technology that was covered in this course can be applied in practice.
The findings of modern works stress that it is crucial to consider the interaction between ethical leadership and strategic decision-making for the improvement of healthcare management practices (Patel et al., 2023). Furthermore, the reflection suggests directions for the research and development activities as well as the list of annotated sources to continue education. It is done to link up theoretical knowledge with practice experiences, reminding of the need for sustaining ethical leadership and advancement in the sphere of healthcare.
Pros and Cons of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) or Electronic Health Records
Health Information Exchanges or HIEs and Electronic Health Records or EHRs give several benefits in healthcare administration. One of them is the improvement of data accessibility as a result of the implementation of the introduction. EHR integrates and HIE provides patient information from caregivers and various folds thus enhancing care coordination and eliminating duplicated tests. For instance, the patient’s medical record can be rapidly accessed for review by other practitioners increasing the efficient provision of health care (Adler-Milstein & Jha, 2020).
An example of this benefit is in New York where the New York Statewide Health Information Network (SHIN-NY), collects the patient’s data and makes it available to healthcare providers throughout the state enhancing the way chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are managed (NYeC, 2022). Electronic Health Records also have another major advantage of enhanced patient safety. Several studies show that the EHRs’ comprehensive and updated record of current medications and allergies minimizes potential medication errors and adverse drug interactions (Buntin et al., 2021).
BUS FPX 4121 Assessment 4 Informational Interview and Course Reflection
For example, Cleveland Clinic, which has adopted EHRs, has contributed to avoiding the prescription of medication with contraindicated activity due to notifications of such scenarios before signing off on prescriptions (Cleveland Clinic, 2023). Moreover, EHR helps in scheduling, billing, and other administrative tasks, which makes the practice run smoothly, reduces paper clutter, and, thus, cuts organizational expenses (Gans et al., 2022). EHR systems being adopted in the Mayo Clinic have enhanced the general working calendar and minimized patients’ wait time.
There are equally recognized drawbacks of HIEs and EHRs as well despite their effectiveness. Data privacy and security are critical, especially given that patients’ information is easily accessible – thus, the risk of breach is higher as compared to cases where the information is centralized.
Appropriate measures must be put in place to prevent the loss of important data (Kane, 2021). An example of the risk is illustrated by the data breach incident at the American Medical Collection Agency in 2019 which affected millions of patients’ data compromising their personal and health information and demonstrating weaknesses in data protection measures.
Ethical Challenges Related to Patient Health Information
One major ethical concern associated with patient health information involves the ability to protect the patient’s data and keep it secure while at the same time ensuring that the information is freely available to healthcare professionals. Indeed, achieving this balance is challenging because health records continue to go digital, and health information systems become interconnected.
One of the well-documented real-world examples of this threat is the data breach that was realized in the COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS/CHS in the year, 2014 which involved the leakages of personal details of 4. 5 million patients. This breach pointed to the fact that EHRs are prone to cyber-attacks and the resulting ethical issue of patient data privacy. For instance, the breach not only tarnished the image of the organization but also harmed the patients’ trust in the healthcare industry regarding the protection of their data (Ponemon Institute, Inc., 2020).
Looking at healthcare managers from the PI’s perspective, their involvement in such situation is rather intricate. They need to put in place practices like data encryption and security check-ups to ensure that patient’s data is secure. Besides, the staff should be encouraged to have ethical behavior and stress the fact that the information they deal with must not be disclosed to any third persons, and the possible outcomes in case of leakage are severe.
For example, in a healthcare organization, where I worked as a manager, one of the employees unknowingly violated a patient’s privacy policy and shared the patient’s information with a third party. In response to this, we upped our training activities related to data privacy to keep the staff informed about the moral and legal connotations associated with compromising the patient’s data.
Interviewee’s Responses to Self-Design Questions
During the informational interview with a healthcare manager, the interviewee’s answers to the questions that I developed offered crucial information regarding the ethical, operational, and strategic frameworks of managing healthcare organizations. These responses together with the narratives and actual-life experiences shed light on the challenges and roles that come with the management of patients’ health information. Self-developed question was presented and it referred to the interviewee’s practice in the application of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
Specifically, the interviewee described the options and the weaknesses of these systems. They pointed at the increased availability of patients’ data as one of the key advantages that further enhance the effective management of patient records and eliminate the need for repeated tests and examinations. For instance, they used an anecdote from their organization and established that integrating EHRs helped in lessening the cases of medication errors since it compiled patient medication histories for clinicians. Nevertheless, the interviewee also stressed on few disadvantages like high costs and certain complexities associated with the establishment of these systems especially for the HMOs of less magnitude. This corresponds with the difficulties experienced in most RHCs since they suffer from financial and logistical constraints in implementing EHR systems [Rural Health Information Hub, 2021].
One of the questions examined the ethical issues regarding the patient’s health information. This interviewee discussed a scenario in their organization in which they nearly experienced a leakage of patients’ information and, as a result, the need to act swiftly and proactively to avert a crisis. They emphasized having sound security measures put in place as well as reiterated the necessity to refresh the employees on matters of data protection. This is similar to the prior example CHS data breach incident that revealed millions of patient’s records and the importance of the proper data security procedure (Ponemon Institute, 2020). The interviewee’s reply also stressed the importance of individual ethical standards when speaking of managerial work; according to this particular respondent, ethical concerns should be the primary focus of all managers. This view is well aligned with the healthcare management ethical goals of beneficence and non-malfeasance as stated.
Conclusion
The analysis of the informational interview and the contemplation over the subjects studied throughout the course have enabled a full comprehension of the ethical, functional, and strategic concerns of healthcare management. The interviewee’s encounter with HIEs and EHRs, coupled with the handling of ethical issues, presents lessons of concern on how much we can uncompromisingly advance on technology while giving less consideration toward data protection. The principles raised in the course regarding the use of patient health information consist of ethical leadership principles and the significance of a leader’s moral character.
Summing up the principal lessons of this course, one should conclude that, having a great number of theoretical bases to stand upon, ethical theories and principles remain the essential tools of efficient healthcare management. This paper shows that awareness of the impact of outside stimuli and internal organizational structures on a company’s management practices is crucial for the formulation of strategic plans and policies. With the information from the interviewee and the content of this course, the active and effective planning, the constant amendments, and the adherence to regulations have been brought into detail. Read more about our sample BUS FPX 4121 Assessment 3 Organizational Culture and Ethics for complete information about this class.
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