Health Information System: Telemedicine Implementation Analysis

This report explores the potential of telemedicine in delivering medical information and services, focusing on barriers to its success in radiology, behavioral health, and intensive care. Key obstacles include reimbursement issues, security concerns, online prescribing limitations, and credentialing complexities. Behavioral health is identified as the easiest area to transition into telemedicine due to the growing need for mental health care and the suitability of telepsychiatry. Conversely, radiology is considered the most challenging due to expensive technology requirements and privacy concerns. The report outlines initial steps for implementing telemedicine within a facility, including strategic planning, committee formation, and vendor selection, emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive needs assessment involving various stakeholders. The conclusion stresses the need for innovative cost-cutting measures and addressing physician shortages to improve patient care outcomes through telemedicine.

Running head: HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM 1
Health Information System
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Abstract
Telemedicine usually has the capability of playing a crucial role of providing medical
information along with services across space and time through telecommunication technologies
which range from telephone to robotics. Accordingly, the primary objective of telemedicine is to
facilitate the delivery of health care to the populations that are medically disadvantaged
geographically.

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1. What do you see as the most likely barriers to the success of telemedicine in the
areas of radiology, behavioral health, and intensive care?
Some of the obstacles to the success of telemedicine within the areas of radiology areas
highlighted below. The first one is the reimbursement problem. As an illustration, there are
serious financial problems which arise because of the insufficient capital expenditure along with
lack of reimbursement models which differs from different states. Just as the licensing laws, the
reimbursement models usually vary from one Nation to the other (Eadie et al., 2014). When the
reimbursement is limited, the patients within the affected areas are usually underserved, and in
most cases, the cost of telemedicine becomes a burden which hospitals should bear.
The second barrier is security concerns. Under these circumstances, the existing legal and
regulatory rules surrounding privacy together with security has to be known clearly since they
relate to telemedicine. Furthermore, telemedicine usually brings more sensitive data into
healthcare space which may require hospitals to update their risk analysis together with privacy
practices (Gagnon, 2016).
The third obstacle is the online prescribing where physicians have to be in a position to
prescribe medications to patients who are treated via telehealth. In that case, only around twenty
states allow physical examinations via Telehealth tools (Mukherjee & Sharma, 2015).
The last but not least barrier is Credentialing. The process of telemedicine credentialing
can be very complicated like in healthcare centers which work from a hub and spoke model
(Kahn, 2015).

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Which of these areas do you think would be the easiest to transition into
telemedicine?
As per my opinion, behavioral health is the easiest to transition into telemedicine. To
understand this we must understand the area of behavioral health; It includes the well-being of
mental health such as depression or anxiety and other mental health-related issues. There is a
critical requirement of better mental health care, and the public has also become open to
telemedicine that has made the behavioral health a comfortable area to transition into
telemedicine. Other things that made it easiest option are:
There is a shortage of psychiatrists in the U.S., and that is a huge problem, in this kind of
treatment there is no need to go for physical examination, most of the times psychiatrists have to
take sessions that can be possible with the use of Telepsychiatry such as tech software to video
chat with patients online. So this way a psychiatrist in another state can now treat a patient living
in a rural shortage area or another state (Mukherjee & Sharma, 2015).
One of the most significant advantages that make telemedicine an easy option is that now
patients are convalescing at home, mobile-challenged patients can have easy consultation from
the psychiatry, if they have a way to connect to the internet, telepsychiatry enables them to
access treatment (Fuhrman & Lilly, 2015).
While the public has become open towards the treatment of behavioral health these days,
but still there is a stigma problem for some patients. In this process, the patient should not fight
social stigma and can ensure their privacy because therapy appointments can be made from
home.
Which would be the hardest? Why?

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As per my opinion radiology is the hardest to transition into telemedicine.T o understand
this we must understand the area of radiology, it includes the specialty related to the use of
radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, such as X-rays and ultrasound: consists of
the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the heart and vascular system (Mukherjee & Sharma,
2015).
Teleradiology concerned with the practice of a radiologist such as medical images when
the patient is not physically present in the location and images is generated. There is expensive
technology required to use this facility such as mobile imaging, urgent care facilities. It is costly
to get a Teleradiologist on-site. Cost of equipment involved and installation is very high and
make it a hard option in this area (Ndlovu, Littman-Quinn, Park, Dikai & Kovarik, 2014).
Privacy issues are also a problem: Use of Teleradiology led to the risks to patient privacy
and confidentiality, and there are many studies which have emphasized the legal and ethical
aspects of Teleradiology.
2. If you were charged by Grand to bring telemedicine to the facility within eighteen
months, what are the first steps you would take?
To bring Telemedicine to the Grand hospital within 18 months the first steps I will take are:
 Constructing a well-designed Strategic plan with
 Strategic goals
 Mission
 Vision
 Forming a Committee.
 Concentrating on Five project goals and methods.

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 Searching for the best possible vendor for the facilities information system.
Whom would you involve in the planning process and why?
 CEO
 CFO
 2 top physicians
 2 top radiologists
 2 top psychiatrists, about
 3 RNs or nurses
 Facility administrator,
 The office manager of each department
3. How would you go about conducting a needs assessment for the organization?
The first step that I will take is to determine whom I should ask which might involve
interviewing the entire company pyramid. In that case, I would start with the senior level
management where I might find the needs of the senior management vary significantly with that
of the front line managers. I will also develop the questions to ask which will differ from one
worker to the other. Lastly, I will have to tabulate the results after gathering all the results (Lilly
et al., 2014).
Which parameters or system requirements would be most important to include in
the needs assessment and why?
Some of the parameters to be considered are an external environment that the company
exists within, the weaknesses and strengths of the Company. However, the frame factors should
also be considered in this assessment (Weinstein et al., 2014).

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Conclusion
In conclusion, the Grand hospital has to work hard and find new and innovative ways that
cut costs and overcome the physician shortages especially within the field of radiology, intensive
care and behavioral health along with improving the patient care outcomes. Accordingly,
Telemedicine reduces the hospital readmission rates. Therefore, there is an efficient post-
operation follow-up since the orthopedic surgeons usually spot-check the surgical wound in less
than thirty seconds.

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