Change Management in Health for Informatics- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theChange Management in Health for Medical Informatics. Answer: Two factors driving change the area of Health Information Technology The first factor that is driving change in the area of health information technology is the need for improving the quality of care. Health care sector has faced the pressure to redesign its workflow due to challenges in handling large flow of patient, handling complex patient information and ensuring safety of patient (Reidy et al., 2017). In response to the issues in workflow, the introduction of the electronic health record (EHR) was a major change implemented in the area of health information technology. Advanced technologies used for the adoption of EHR helped to manage workforce challenges and cut cost and time involved in handling huge information of patients (Campion et al., 2014). Another factor that has driven change in health information technology is the rise in ageing population and increased health service utilization due to risk of illness and age related disability in people. Considering the changes in the patient engagement with care due to the ageing population, the health care sector responded by modernizing the health care system and and incorporating health information technology to easily reach to patients with advancing age and range of difficulties (Berwick, Nolan Whittington, 2017). New health IT technology has been specifically targeted older adults and health IT tools has reduces the problem of accessibility and support for these people (Fischer et al., 2014). Management of change: In the context of ageing population, one of the major challenges in implementing health IT for elderly people was promoting acceptance and efficient use of the technology among elderly. To manage the change process, health care managers focused on bringing change in all aspects such as cultural, social, operational and technical aspects of the health care organization. This process of managing change is relevant to the systems theory which states that organization is a system consisting of internal and external element that influences the behavior of the whole organization (Rice, 2013). While developing and implementing health IT for elderly, the first factor that was considered was the elements that would act as a barrier to the use of technology by elder people. Some of the common perceived barriers among elderly population was the challenges related to familiarity with the tool, poor trust of the technology, lack of willingness to use IT, design related challenges and privacy issues in using the technology (Lee Coughlin, 2015). In response to this, it was planned to change all necessary elements that would act as barrier for the elderly patients. In the context of design barrier, the complexity related to interfaces and executive function of tools was reduces and large font and lighting option was provided to facilitate use of technology among elderly. In addition, family and caregivers use of technology is also crucial to fulfill the purpose of HIT tools. The access and training needs of elderly was addressed by educating the seniors through several programs an d recruitment of helpdesk staff in community. The reliability of the IT tool was enhanced by giving proper information related to system provided to identify frauds and prevent abuse of the technology (Fischer et al., 2014). These entire steps are appropriate method to manage the change and prepare all stakeholders in easily using the new technology in the existing health care environment. Method of managing change using the change management model: Health care organizations which have adapted EHR and other IT tools in the work process has mainly used the Kotters eight step change model to prepare the staffs to use the new tools in daily care process. The first step in this change model is establishing a sense of urgency regarding the need for change to individual staffs and the organization. In the context of HER adoption, this was done mainly to help staffs understand the advantage of HER in reducing time involved in managing patient information and promoting efficiency in the care process. The second step involves building a team of effective individuals who will help and coordinate the change process (Pollack Pollack, 2015). Technology managers and front-line clinicians has been involved in extending sponsorship, training and optimization needs of other staffs in using HIT. This is followed by the step to developing clear direction and vision and communicating the same to all employees. Top clinical managers have also focus ed on giving education to health care staffs regarding the clinical benefits of health information tools like EHR (King et al., 2014).The fifth stage in managing the change is empowering the employees to participate in the change. This has been done by providing education and training to staffs regarding the use of IT tools before implementing them in usual care process. The final stage of consolidating the change has been done by taking feedback and evaluating the effect of introducing IT tool on quality related outcome and patients satisfaction with care (Nguyen, Bellucci Nguyen, 2014). Reference Berwick, D. M., Nolan, T. W., Whittington, J. (2017). The triple aim: care, health, and cost.Health affairs. Campion Jr, T. R., Johnson, S. B., Paxton, E. W., Mushlin, A. I., Sedrakyan, A. (2014). 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