In assigned groups, in a paper (1,500-2,000 words), discuss the concept of interoperability
and health information exchange (HIE), and the how you would approach the other groups
(public, clinical, ancillary, software/medical device vendors and other health care
informatics groups HIM, admitting, finance, administrators). Papers must address the
following:
1) Clearly describe interoperability within all groups.
2) Discuss the potential benefits you and the partners will receive from exchanging
information.
3) Examine and outline the risks of exchanging data with other partners.
4) Describe the marketing approach the group would take to encourage health care
vendors to exchange data
Informatics Specialty Area and Interoperability
Risks associated with the sharing of data with other partners
Introduction: Despite the benefits of sharing data between partners, there are also potential
problems that are likely to occur in an environment where data is shared between different
healthcare entities. There are several possible challenges that are associated with the adoption of
data sharing among partners who are involved in Health Information Exchange programs. Below
are some of the most prevalent challenges associated with the said exchange (Sicote and Pare,
2010).
Identity Theft
This is the illegal collection of personal information of the patients and other individuals whose
information has been captured in the system. This is not a deliberate action but rather one that
presents itself due to loopholes in the system or the presence of a corrupt individual who has
been compromised. This data could either be in digital format or a physical paper documents that
have been filled by hand or even print-outs. Electronic files are however the most sensitive since
they can be easily transferred and stored without any physical evidence being left. The type of
data that could be stolen here includes health information, residence and even economic data
(Appari and Johnson, 2010).
The Commission of Errors
In the event that the individual entering or transferring data makes a mistake, the error or errors
can go a long way in skewing the overall results of different investigations that are being taken.
The effect is often worse if paper records were involved because of the difficulty of tracing the
source of the mistake. At times the mistake results from improper framing of queries presented to
patients or other concerned persons. In this instance it can be said that electronic information has
a higher chance of being corrected due to traceability and a greater possibility of checks and
balances whereas paper records will give the operator an uphill task that often necessitates a
repeat of the entire exercise and this is quite a costly affair.
Hacking of the Information System
Despite developers’ best efforts to create secure systems, there have always those individuals
who channel their skills, talents and energies towards unauthorized access of the system. While
some do it purely as a hobby, there is a dangerous lot who prefer to hack into systems to either
initiate a system breakdown or alternatively to conduct identity theft on the details of people
whose information is contained in the database. The fact that hackers have been at this since the
emergence of electronic databases means that they have acquired a sophisticated set of skills and
this only makes the electronic systems the more vulnerable given that electronic healthcare data
is steadily gaining prominence over manually maintained databases.
Marketing approach the group would take to encourage health care vendors to exchange
data
The aim of this marketing effort will be to introduce the concept of shared data as well as to
encourage healthcare vendors to embrace it in their practice. Since this is a marketing venture, it
will be essential for us to mirror the marketing campaigns done for conventional products in the
market place. However the only differences will be that our equivalent of profit will be the
healthcare vendors employing this approach and the product we will be promoting will be the
practice of sharing data between the different health establishments. A common trend in the
world of marketing is to present customer-centric products (Berkowitz, 2010).
The customer centric approach obliges us to design our plan based on the needs or at least
operations of the various healthcare providers who are within our target population. This means
that we will conduct a brief survey across the board to establish their data needs and also their
preferred format of collection and storage. Once this has been done, the team will sort the data
with the aim of establishing and isolating commonalities as well as specific concerns of the
healthcare vendors who were included in the survey. Once this has been done, the report that has
been generated will act as our pointer regarding the most appropriate way to package the
concept.
The actual marketing of this concept will require case studies since these are tantamount to
demonstrations of the data sharing in action. The main approach at this stage will be in
conventions that bring those in this profession together and also a door to door approach which
will be the main strategy in application. Here, the members of the team will be going to meet the
CIOs of the various healthcare facilities we have around. During these sessions, the team
representative on site will briefly introduce the concept and relate it to the needs of the facility
that he/she has gone to visit. This will be followed by a brief presentation that also features a
case study of the practicality of data sharing. To ensure that the providers embrace the product,
it will be important to consistently measure the progress of the marketing campaign so as to
know whether it necessary to effect changes. The continuous evaluation will help to fine-tune
our marketing strategy and align it with our goal (Clarke, 2010).
References
Appari, A., & Johnson, M. E. (2010). Information security and privacy in healthcare: current
state of research. International journal of Internet and enterprise management, 6(4), 279-
314.
Berkowitz, E. (2010). Essentials of health care marketing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Clarke, R. N. (2010). Marketing Healthcare Services.Health Care Administration: Managing
Organized Delivery Systems: Managing Organized Delivery Systems, 325.
Sicotte, C., &Paré, G. (2010). Success in health information exchange projects: Solving the
implementation puzzle. Social Science & Medicine, 70(8), 1159-1165.