Comprehensive Analysis of Requirements for Memorial Hospital's EMRS

This report analyzes the multifaceted requirements for implementing an Electronic Medical Records System (EMRS) at Memorial Hospital. It comprehensively addresses technical specifications, including hardware and software needs, system performance, and reliability. The report delves into functional requirements, such as patient data management, task delegation, and secure data handling, ensuring the EMRS meets operational demands. Security and privacy are emphasized, with a focus on data protection, access controls, and compliance with regulations like HIPAA. User requirements, including training and support, are also discussed to ensure effective system adoption. Furthermore, the report examines regulatory standards from government agencies and professional organizations, highlighting the importance of accreditation and compliance for legal and operational integrity. The analysis underscores the need for Memorial Hospital to meet all these requirements for a successful and legally compliant EMRS implementation, enhancing patient care and operational efficiency.

Running head: REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS
Requirements for memorial hospital’s IS
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 1
Abstract
For any form of healthcare information system to function efficiently and meet the expectations
placed upon it, its users must fulfill all the necessary requirements of the system. Electronic
medical records system are not immune to this rule. Before the adoption and implementation of
any type of electronic medical records system, health institution must ensure that they have
fulfilled all the requisite needs of an electronic medical record system. This ensures that all the
operations of an organization under the management of electronic medical records run smoothly
and the process of decision making remains safe from errors that relate to information system
failures due to failure by the organization to meet some of all aspects of an information system's
requirement. Additionally, regulatory bodies such as government bodies, professional
organizations and industrial organizations require that electronic medical records systems should
meet a certain level of regulatory requirements so as to be termed as operationally compliant.
Keywords: electronic medical records system, technical requirements, compliance requirements,
functional requirements, accreditation and certification and confidentiality

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 2
Requirements for an Electronic Medical Records System
Prior to recommending the adoption and implementation of an electronic medical records
system as a healthcare information system for the memorial hospital, there is the need to
understand all the requirements of the system so as to ensure that the system functions efficiently
and achieves its intended purpose. These requirements may be functional, operational, user-
oriented, accreditation and standard compliance. All these requirements require to be fulfilled for
the successful and legal operation of the EMRS. This paper seeks to discuss the functional,
technical, legal, user and clinical requirements of an EMRS system. Additionally, this literature
will focus on the requisite regulatory standards from government agencies, as well as
professional organizations that the memorial hospital's EMRS needs to be compliant with before
the implementation if the healthcare information system.
Technical requirements of memorial hospital’s Electronic Medical Record Systems
(EMRS)
For the healthcare information system at the memorial hospital to be successful, there
must be certain technical aspects that must be fulfilled. These aspects include matters such as the
performance ability of the Electronic Medical Records system, how reliable the system is, the
accessibility of the system (CareCloud, 2018). The memorial hospital should ensure that it
acquires an EMRS which meets all the above needs. Also, the hospital should make an effort to
that measures are put in place to ensure that all the aforementioned requirements of Electronic
Medical Record Systems are met and fulfilled. Additionally, the EMRS system requires that
contingencies be put in place so as to handle potential technical issues that may arise in future
such system breakdown and overload so as to ensure the day to day activities of the hospital are
not interrupted. The fulfillment of technical requirements ensures that EMRS is compliant with

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 3
the set government and industry standards thus ensuring that its operation is legal and conforms
to industry quality requirements.
According to CloudCare (2018), the EMRS technical requirements can be classified as to
two major groups namely hardware technical needs and software EMRS technical needs. The
hardware technical requirements include the presence of computers and mobile device that can
connect to a network through the internet so as to grant all the users, medical staff and hospital
staff, access to electronic medical records. Also, there is the hardware requirement for data and
information and storage devices to store patient information before it is uploaded to cloud-based
servers. The software technical needs of the memorial hospital's EMRS include a safe, secure
and easy to use a computer or mobile operating system and user interface. Additionally, the
EMRS will require a software that is legal and has all the requisite vendor licenses.
Functional Requirements of Memorial Hospital’s EMRS
Functional requirements refer to the tasks, duties and functions that HIS is needed to
fulfill. According to Lloyd &Chime (2018), the functionality requirements of the memorial
hospital's EMRS include the recording and management of patient data and demographics,
patient diagnosis management, ability to assign and delegate tasks to caregivers and physicians,
supervise the performance of the hospital's staff, securely handle and protect patient data and
records, allow for accurate and efficient billing and allow for the sharing of patient data to
different stakeholders pattering with the memorial hospital in the healthcare sector.
The EMRS system chosen by the memorial hospital should be able to fulfill all these
functional qualities without causing any additional operating costs or liabilities to the hospital.
Consideration must be made in terms of ensuring that there are no restrictions put in place in

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 4
terms of the functionality of the EMRS so as to ensure legality and compliance with the
regulatory systems. Additionally, if an EMRS fails to fulfill the functional requirements then it
would not only result in efficiency but also the hemorrhaging of funds from the hospital through
outsourcing activities. Therefore, it’s critical to ensure that the EMRS meets all the technical
needs so as to ensure economical operation within the hospital.
Security and Privacy Requirements of the Memorial Hospital’s EMRS
According to Gottesman et al. (2013), some of the patient data handled by the EMRS will
be sensitive and private, thus requiring protection. This information is valuable and the system
will, therefore, be prone to attacks by hackers who aim to steal or maliciously damage the patient
data and records. Also, the information needs to be protected from various forms of unauthorized
and restricted access from within the memorial hospital.
The EMRS at the memorial hospital requires a constantly updated firewall to seal
loopholes that may be utilized by external hackers to get into the system and embed viruses,
Trojans or malware that can be utilized to corrupt the information and data in the system.
Additionally, the EMRS requires the establishment of a multi-level access key so as to ensure
that personnel in the hospital only have access to information that is relevant to their tasks and
that patient data is not exposed to unauthorized persons. Also, the system requires a double
authentication security system that so as to ensure that the system is adequately secured (Caine &
Hanania, 2012). Additional EMRS requirements for the EMRS include secure data transfer
channel, encryption for all end-user devices and hardware that will be utilized by the system.
Another vital requirement to ensure the maintenance of patient data privacy and security through
the automatic logging off from the system by devices after periods of continuous activities. This
requirement ensures that an accidental invasion of privacy is avoided. Also, the operators of the

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 5
system should be able to track and link all the devices accessing the system at a given time and
link them to an individual end user. This aims at allowing the system monitors to be able to track
breaches into the system and block them in real-time using the emergency over-ride capabilities
of the EMRS.
User Requirements
In order for the EMRS at the memorial hospital to function effectively, there is need to
ensure that all the end-user requirements are fulfilled. This includes offering the appropriate
technical and functional training to all the hospital personnel expected to interact with the
EMRS. Also, all the staff must be provided with skilled and professional monitors to ensure the
effective use of the system to achieve the hospital's goals (Kabukye et al., 2017).
The memorial hospital’s EMRS must be accompanied by an instruction manual to assist
the end users to be able to fully utilize the abilities and functions of EMRS. The manual should
also serve as a troubleshooting guide to potential complications and problems that end users may
experience during the course of their interactions with EMRS.
Electronic Medical Records System’s Regulations and Standards
The EMRS adopted by the memorial hospital should conform to various standards and
regulatory policies that govern the healthcare sectors. According to Lloyd & Chimes (2018),
these standards and policies are established by government bodies, industry organizations and
healthcare professional bodies. They affect the legality as well as the quality of care that is
offered through the use of EMRS.
Regulations put in place by government bodies include laws enacted by Congress like the
1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which was enacted to protect

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL’S IS 6
the rights and interests healthcare services. Under this Act, the types of healthcare service
consumer information that is protected and the procedures required to be followed in the use of
the protected information are highlighted. Therefore, the memorial hospital’s EMRSA is
required to be compliant with this Act so to be legally operational under the confines of the law.
Additionally, the EMRS needs to be compliant with the Health Information Technology for
Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. The above regulations show that HIS
require to be aligned by both state and federal regulatory systems
Professional bodies and industrial organization regulate the HIS through certification and
accreditation processes. The memorial hospital’s EMRS requires the certification of this parties
and organizations so as to increase consumer confidence in the system and ensure that standards
of care are adhered to. Some of the EMRS accrediting bodies include the electronic medical
record (EMR) certification authority, American National Standards Institute, Healthcare
Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) among many others.
In summation, having discussed the functional, technical, legal, user and clinical
requirements of an EMRS system, it is evident that for the EMRS to be adopted at the memorial
hospital be effective in its implementation and use, the above requires must be met. Additionally,
after focusing on the requisite regulatory standards from government agencies, as well as
professional organizations it would be only wise to ensure that the EMRS adopted by the
memorial hospital has the necessary accreditation from both government and professional
organizations in the health sector so as to increase consumer confidence in the system as well as
the compliance of the system to the standards of care.

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References
Caine, K., & Hanania, R. (2012). Patients want granular privacy control over health information
in electronic medical records. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association,
20(1), 7-15.
CareCloud. (2018). EHR Checklist: Functional and Technical Essentials. Retrieved from
https://www.carecloud.com/continuum/
Gottesman, O., Kuivaniemi, H., Tromp, G., Faucett, W. A., Li, R., Manolio, T. A., & Brilliant,
M. (2013). The electronic medical records and Genomics (eMERGE) network: past,
present, and future. Genetics in Medicine, 15(10), 761.
Kabukye, J. K., Koch, S., Cornet, R., Orem, J., & Hagglund, M. (2017). User Requirements for
an Electronic Medical Records System for Oncology in Developing Countries: A Case
Study of Uganda. In AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings (Vol. 2017, p. 1004).
American Medical Informatics Association.
Lloyd D. & Chime D. (2018). EHR Requirements. University College London.