Software needs

For this discussion, you will choose one of the following business environments:

Midsize or Global Company

Educational Organization

Medical Organization

Identify three considerations when determining the software needs for your chosen environment. An example of a consideration is access control, including user accounts and passwords. Frame your response in 1–2 paragraphs.

Respond to two of your peers and provide feedback. Is there anything you would add to their response? Are there any issues you can foresee and would expand on?

Medical Organization-

My choice of business organization is a medical organization. The three considerations I am identifying are the needs of the organization which is supported by the correct software technology, and lastly, but most importantly is the security consideration. All three work hand in hand with each other.

Any healthcare/medical organization’s needs center around both patient care and the financial aspect needing to both bill for care and take in money for services rendered. While there is a lot more that happens, most everything centers around both the needs listed. With that being said, the software needs will focus around both of these areas, with the largest component being patient care. The software chosen for patient care will need to be able to service all areas of patient care. From registering a patient through the ED or surgical areas, ED services, lab services, radiology, surgical services, patient care on the units to ICU and cardiac needs and more. An EHR software package needs to meet the needs of the organization. There are many medical software packages out there such as Cerner that can take care of a medical organizations needs. Another software need would be an accounting and financial billing/coding software so that the organization can bill both insurance companies and Medicare as well as the patient for services rendered. Any software chosen should have the support staff to help with any issues that arise. Cerner for example is from a large company that can support organizations who use it.

While considering both the organizational needs and software (and hardware) needs it is very important to ensure that the security needs are met as well. Security needs will include software security, database security as well security with data being transmitted so that it meets HIPAA regulations. A patient’s medical record needs security measures in place that only medical personnel with the right permissions are allowed to access the records. For example, a patient comes into the ED with a serious medical issue. While in the ED the doctor assigned to the patient as well as the nurse assigned and the ED Technician all have access to the patient’s chart being able to put in orders, progress notes and care notes as needed. The patient is then admitted for care/observation/surgery (whatever is needed). Once the patient leaves the ED and is admitted to a floor/unit, the ED medical staff is should not be allowed into the records once all information has been completed and signed off on. And if they need to go in and finish charting such as a doctor to finish dictating notes (they generally have a certain amount of time to complete this), they are only allowed in their respective areas. There are generally securities in place to either prevent access or flag personnel who do access the records. Healthcare security is very regulated to ensure the privacy of the patient’s information. Even when being released for a valid reason, there are HIPAA (Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations that determine how this is done and under what circumstances.

When determining software needs for any type of medical organization, it’s very important to balance technology, security and business need. First and foremost, the software has to match current standards but then be able to be easily updated as medical terms, standards, and laws change. Generally speaking it’s best to purchase software that is common in the industry. Smaller custom builds are hard to integrate and maintain and require vendor support. Larger companies, like Epic or Cerner, are industry standard and maintain staff that can easily support and implement those changes.