Evaluation Plan for HIT System Implementations

question
To prepare:
Review the case study you chose for your evaluation plan. Consider what viewpoint and research goal you would use to guide your evaluation plan. Although many potential research goals or viewpoints could be selected for your case study, you are only required to choose one goal and one viewpoint.
Research three published evaluations that have been conducted on HIT system implementations similar to the case study you selected.
Answer
1. Introduction
This evaluation plan provides all the details that will show the need and importance of health information technology system in the health industry. This plan will guide the implementation process and support the information system to provide a good service in managing the patient records. This plan will guide the user through the system step by step to achieve the maximum potential of managing patient records by using health information technology. This plan will evaluate the user and system interaction. This exam is going to make sure the health information technology system would be capable of supporting the target users, which are physicians. This exam will also evaluate the data that he wants input and output. This method is related to a before and after study using the same user applying cross-over implementation. Data for system evaluation is subjective and objective to evaluate the ease of use, usefulness, user intention, productivity, and quality of work life expectancy influences on the technology, task, and external variables, perceived mismatches, and completion success. This evaluation would determine the efficiency and effectiveness of managing patient records using health information technology system (Hammill, Ning, Scott; 2000).
1.1 Purpose of the Evaluation Plan
The findings from this evaluation will be used to improve the new EHR system and to prevent any potentially harmful effects with future system changes at this institution or at other healthcare organizations.
The overall goal of the evaluation process is to identify any positive or negative effects associated with the new EHR system and to make recommendations that will enhance its effects on quality and safety. More specifically, we will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to: – Assess the effects of the new system on various measures of healthcare quality and safety – Identify important or unintended changes in work processes by those who use the system – Pinpoint system design and implementation issues that are associated with either positive or negative outcomes – Enhance the understanding of how and why the new system was effective in certain areas and detrimental in others.
The purpose of the evaluation plan is intended to outline the rationale for evaluating the HIT system implementation at a large academic medical center on the east coast. The primary goal of this project is to implement a comprehensive inpatient electronic health record system to replace existing paper and electronic documentation. As with the implementation of any new system, it is important to carefully evaluate the process to ensure that the goals of the organization are being met and to identify any unexpected consequences associated with the new system. This project will use a comprehensive evaluation strategy to assess the impact of the new system on healthcare quality and patient safety. This plan is intended to guide the evaluation process and to ensure that the findings are effectively translated into practice. Given that this is a 5-7 year project with a system that is continually evolving, this evaluation plan will focus primarily on the initial implementation of the inpatient EHR system and has flexibility to adjust the evaluation focus in subsequent years.
1.2 Scope of the Evaluation Plan
Using the AHRQ framework for the National Resource Center of Health Information Technology as a guide, this plan will detail the impact of health information technology (HIT) on a microsystem level. Each process that is being implemented or evaluated will be given an overall assessment to determine a qualitative and quantitative result. This will give an overall assessment to determine if the process is an improvement compared to the previous method. The various permutations can be seen in a fishbone diagram built around the central idea that HIT will improve patient safety and quality at the facility. A time series analysis of specific indicators such as mortality rates, medication errors, turnaround time, and nursing sensitive indicators will be used to provide an overall impact in the microsystem.
The scope of this evaluation plan is to detail various processes that are being implemented in patient information management and assess the utilization of the health information exchange. This evaluation plan will take an in-depth look at the before and after results of a new medication administration system, specifically bar coding. The plan will then shift its focus to assessing the overall impact on the healthcare facility.
1.3 Background of the Case Study
Baylor’s implementation of the Epic Systems HIT took place in several stages from 2003 to 2008. EHR was first activated at pilot sites, then installed at all of the primary care clinics and associated ambulatory practices. These ambulatory systems were integrated with the in-patient EHR at two hospital sites. During this time period, several natural experiments occurred that provide an ideal environment for empirical evaluations of HIT: 1) a new EHR system was installed at one of the two hospital affiliates that had previously been sharing the same system as the other hospital (non-randomized comparative system); 2) within the same hospital, there was a temporary and non-randomized cessation of electronic lab ordering and results retrieval due to catastrophic IT failure; 3) electronic prescribing (e-prescribe) was federally mandated to be phased in between 2007 and 2009 which provided additional bonus payments and penalties for Medicare and Medicaid services.
2. Research Goal and Viewpoint Selection
2.1 Selection of a Research Goal
2.2 Selection of a Viewpoint
3. Published Evaluations on HIT System Implementations
3.1 Evaluation 1: [Title]
3.2 Evaluation 2: [Title]
3.3 Evaluation 3: [Title]
4. Comparison of Published Evaluations with the Case Study
4.1 Similarities in Evaluation Approaches
4.2 Differences in Evaluation Methodologies
5. Development of Evaluation Plan
5.1 Defining Evaluation Objectives
5.2 Identifying Evaluation Metrics
5.3 Determining Data Collection Methods
5.4 Establishing Evaluation Timeline
6. Implementation of Evaluation Plan
6.1 Recruitment of Participants
6.2 Data Collection Procedures
6.3 Data Analysis Techniques
7. Results and Findings
7.1 Presentation of Evaluation Results
7.2 Interpretation of Findings
8. Recommendations and Action Plan
8.1 Proposed Recommendations
8.2 Action Plan for Implementation
9. Conclusion
10. References