IT Implementation in Healthcare Sector

This assignment explores the role of information technology (IT) in modernizing the healthcare sector. It examines how IT can improve business processes, enhance patient care, and present potential risks such as data security vulnerabilities and equipment obsolescence. The analysis emphasizes the need for strategic mitigation of risks to ensure successful IT implementation in healthcare.

Running head: IT IN HEALTHCARE
IT in Healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1. Need of IT in Healthcare.................................................................................................2
2. Importance of IT in Business Survival............................................................................3
3. Requirements of implementing IT in healthcare business...............................................3
4. Use of IT in Healthcare Business....................................................................................4
4.1. Use of IT by Employees...........................................................................................4
4.2. Use of IT by Customers/Patients..............................................................................4
4.3 Use of IT by Suppliers...............................................................................................5
5. Advantages and benefits of IT in Healthcare..................................................................5
6. Risks associated with the implementation of IT in business...........................................6
7. Monitoring and Maintenance of IT.................................................................................7
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................7
References............................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The use of technology is increasing in every sector of business for improving the business
process and integrating the different business operations. Effective use of technology helps in
improving the business process and use of IT has a considerable effect in health care sector as
well. Implementation of It in healthcare helps in supporting the management process of health
information across the computerized system and helps in secure exchange of the health
information between the patients or consumers and service providers (Jones et al. 2014). The
report discusses the effective use of IT in healthcare sector, its benefits and the risks associated
with the implementation of IT along with the basic requirements of implementing IT in the
business.
1. Need of IT in Healthcare
Information technology can be effectively used in improving the quality of healthcare
business. The different use of IT in healthcare sector are listed below (Cresswell and Sheikh
2013)-
1) Information Technology can be effectively used for designing the test base practices
that would further help in reducing the human errors.
2) Implementation of technology helps in improving the linkages between the clinical
healthcare system, emergency health networks and public health agencies (West 2012).
3) The implementation of IT in healthcare helps in improving the clinical decision-
making and effective management of the different healthcare processes.

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4) Use of IT reduces the cost of maintenance of the resources associated with the
healthcare business.
5) IT can be effectively used in healthcare for improving the efficiency, cost effectiveness
and quality and safety of delivering the clinical processes.
2. Importance of IT in Business Survival
Implementation of Information technology is very important for business survival, as
with the emerging technologies, need of incorporating IT in the business processes becomes
essential for business survival. Use of proper technology can help in improving the health
indicators of people in many countries. This is because, now a days, mobile devices are accessed
from even the remotest village and therefore, process of implementation of IT is very essential
for business survival. Technology can be used to deliver high quality medical services across the
country and thus will help in reaching a wider audience in a less cost, which is definitely
beneficial for business (Bardhan and Thouin 2013).
3. Requirements of implementing IT in healthcare business
The requirements of implementing IT in healthcare business are listed below-
1) Proper selection of business process that is in need of IT and establishment of a proper
working structure
2) Selecting a proper project management methodology and approach in implementation
of IT (Schwalbe 2015)

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3) Hiring a project manager who would plan the layout, monitor the project of
implementation of IT, and provide a detailed list of the equipments needed to implement IT in
business
4) The basic equipments that are required to implement IT in the business includes
different telecommunication equipments, USB hubs, server, computer and monitors, digital
healthcare equipments and so on.
5) Planning the entire implementation procedure is necessary for implementing IT in an
effective way. The business objectives should be clear in order to develop and effective project
plan (Cresswell, Bates and Sheikh 2013).
6) Training the staffs and employees about the proper use of the information Technology
is essential for managing the performance of the IT equipments.
4. Use of IT in Healthcare Business
The use of Information Technology in healthcare business are elaborated in the following
paragraphs-
4.1. Use of IT by Employees
The employees are responsible for managing the back end services of providing proper
healthcare services to the patients. The health record of the patients are digitally stored and
managed by the employees. This digital management and storing of the records and data
considerably reduces the workload of the employees and further helps them in managing the
different services in an effective way.
4.2. Use of IT by Customers/Patients

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The patients will be significantly benefited by the implementation of information
technology in business. With the implementation of IT, customers can keep a track of their
clinical health records digitally and booking an appointment with the professionals in a more
effective way. The customers furthermore, will be able to keep in touch with their doctors online,
and therefore it will be easier for them to manage their health in a more effective way. The use of
different electronic methods such as video conferencing or using telecommunication services in
order to communicate with the physicians will considerably help in saving a lot of time and
money of the patients (Schoen et al. 2012).
4.3 Use of IT by Suppliers
The suppliers of medicines and healthcare can make use of IT in providing services to
their clients and customers in a more effective way. Emergence of online services is bringing a
revolution in the field of healthcare and business.
5. Advantages and benefits of IT in Healthcare
The different advantages and benefits of implementing IT in healthcare are elaborated
below-
1) Telemedicine is one of the biggest trends in healthcare industry and the
implementation of IT in healthcare will considerably help in increasing the accessibility of the
services. Computers and internet makes it easier for the medical service providers to keep in
touch with the patients at their home.

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2) Eliminates unnecessary traffic in the office, which in time helps in minimizing the
bottleneck apart from providing an atmosphere of comfort and convenience to the patients (Lee,
McCullough and Town 2013)
3) The computer or the information technology helps the patients to learn about their
medical conditions and opportunities involved with the treatment decisions more effectively
(Ventola 2014).
4) Implementation of project in a proper way considerably reduces the medical error thus
keeping the organization away from lawsuits.
5) Technology helps in creating more efficient and a productive work force. Therefore,
implementation of IT in the field of healthcare would further help in improving the business
processes.
6) Patients can directly communicate with the care providers and therefore, it would help
in increasing the customer satisfaction. This helps in improving the business to a quite extent as
customer satisfaction forms a large part of business processes.
6. Risks associated with the implementation of IT in business
1) One of the major risks associated with the implementation of IT in business of
healthcare is safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of the patient’s data and health records.
2) The out of date equipments possess a significant amount of security risks as improper
security measures can lead to the data leakage and loss of data.
3) If any equipment misbehave or gives faulty result, it may risk patients’ life as well.

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7. Monitoring and Maintenance of IT
Proper monitoring and maintenance of the IT equipments are essential for maintaining
the smooth performance of the implemented information technology. The equipments are needed
to be updated time to time, in order to eliminate any risk associated with the out of date devices.
Proper maintenance of the devices can be ensured by appointing proper technicians for
monitoring the IT equipments (Willcocks 2013).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the healthcare sector will
be benefited with the implementation of IT. This report discusses the need and use of IT in
improvising the business process in Healthcare sector and in offering a much better service to the
customers and patients. However, there are certain risks associated with the implementation of
IT in healthcare business, which must be strategically mitigated in order to ensure better results.
With the advancement of information technology, the need of IT in healthcare becomes
inevitable.

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References
Bardhan, I.R. and Thouin, M.F., 2013. Health information technology and its impact on the
quality and cost of healthcare delivery. Decision Support Systems, 55(2), pp.438-449.
Cresswell, K. and Sheikh, A., 2013. Organizational issues in the implementation and adoption of
health information technology innovations: an interpretative review. International journal of
medical informatics, 82(5), pp.e73-e86.
Cresswell, K.M., Bates, D.W. and Sheikh, A., 2013. Ten key considerations for the successful
implementation and adoption of large-scale health information technology. Journal of the
American Medical Informatics Association, 20(e1), pp.e9-e13.
Jones, S.S., Rudin, R.S., Perry, T. and Shekelle, P.G., 2014. Health information technology: an
updated systematic review with a focus on meaningful use. Annals of internal medicine, 160(1),
pp.48-54.
Lee, J., McCullough, J.S. and Town, R.J., 2013. The impact of health information technology on
hospital productivity. The RAND Journal of Economics, 44(3), pp.545-568.
Schoen, C., Osborn, R., Squires, D., Doty, M., Rasmussen, P., Pierson, R. and Applebaum, S.,
2012. A survey of primary care doctors in ten countries shows progress in use of health
information technology, less in other areas. Health affairs, 31(12), pp.2805-2816.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Ventola, C.L., 2014. Mobile devices and apps for health care professionals: uses and
benefits. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(5), p.356.

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West, D., 2012. How mobile devices are transforming healthcare. Issues in technology
innovation, 18(1), pp.1-11.
Willcocks, L., 2013. Information management: the evaluation of information systems
investments. Springer.