How the Various Stakeholders Make Decisions Related To the EMR

How the Various Stakeholders Make Decisions Related To the EMR The hospital’s board and the heads of the various hospital departments collaboratively make decisions regarding the EMR. When developing the EMR system, the heads of departments involved the staff on how the EMR can be designed to address priority patient care needs and enhance the quality and coordination of care. The employees in various departments were consulted in the design and development because they would be the end-users and would highly impact the system’s success. For example, the head of the Rehabilitation department enquired from nurses and therapists on how the EMR should be designed, including vital features to help address challenges they encounter when using the paper records. The head of the outpatient department also asked employees about features crucial in making the EHR successful in achieving its predetermined needs. The departmental heads presented the employees’ views to the hospital board members to analyze and choose the most practical ones. Training of Individuals to Use the System The EMR training was conducted at the beginning of the implementation phase by the health informaticists team. The team conducted seven-day training on the EHR and how to implement it. Training centered on the EHR’s core functions, potential benefits and challenges, security and privacy measures, and HIPAA and HITECH regulations. Besides, health providers were equipped with basic skills on how to maintain the EHR system. They were also trained on recording and retrieving patient information in the system, utilizing the system’s features such as CDS and Order entry, coordinating patient care using the EHR, generating reports, and using usernames and passwords. In addition, training is conducted when the EMR system is upgraded. CMEs and seminars are conducted in the organization to train end-users about the upgrade and how to use new features introduced in the system. Security Issues in the EMR Potential security issues in the EMR include malware and ransomware, and cloud threats. The EMR system contains large amounts of sensitive patient data, which puts it at risk of breach by hackers. The health informaticists team handles security issues pertaining to the EMR. The informaticists use security safeguards including technical, physical, and administrative measures to strengthen the EMR’s security. Technical strategies are used to safeguards the entire system. They include virus checker, antivirus software, firewalls and encryption, cloud computing, and information security officers (Keshta & Odeh, 2020). The physical safeguards seek to physically protect patient data so that the EMR software or hardware cannot be accessed by unauthorized persons (Keshta & Odeh, 2020). The measures include policies and procedures that direct access controls, use of workstation, security measures for workstations, and device and media control. The administrative protective measures center on having compliant security procedures and policies. They involve security measures, such as conducting audits, and developing contingency plans. The organization also has a health informaticist in charge of the EMR’s information security (Keshta & Odeh, 2020). The EMR system supports a legal health care record by meeting the regulatory, statutory, and professional requirements for clinical EMR systems. It uses technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to avoid legal issues arising from data breaches (Keshta & Odeh, 2020). Furthermore, the EMR uses a secure network that links various physical sites in the hospital, and clinicians can access it at home through a secure authentication code. Funding and Management of Budget Developing and implementing the EMR requires substantial funds to cater for equipment, contracts, human resource, and training. The initial funds used to develop and implement the EMR were obtained from the organization’s development fund. Every yearly budget in the organization contains funds dedicated to funding new projects. The funds for development are usually a percentage of the profits obtained from the previous financial year. The money from the project’s fund was used to purchase the EMR system and conduct training. Effective budget management is crucial to the success of implementing a health system in any organization. Budget management involves making monthly budget allocations, managing the budget baseline, regulating the budget, and assessing the budget performance. The hospital’s account department manages the EMR’s budget. The accounts department is tasked with creating a cash flow management plan before any expenditure is made. Furthermore, the accountant controls the budget baseline to ensure that the project’s expenditures are in line with the cash management plan. Managing the baseline involves verifying and approving all charges coded to th