Unit 8: Application Assignment Introduction Synopsis: This case takes place at a large academic medical center. Several years ago, four hospitals that comprise the medical center complex replaced...

Unit 8: Application Assignment Introduction
Synopsis:This case takes place at a large academic medical center. Several years ago, four hospitals that comprise the medical center complex replaced and/or implemented a number of clinical applications including medication administration using barcoding and CPOE (McKesson products).
A different vendor/product (Epic) had been chosen and implemented in the Southeast Medical Center’s outpatient areas. Clinicians were frustrated that Southeast had been using two different EHR systems, one for inpatient, and another for outpatient, and the two don’t interface or give a complete picture of the patient’s health record.
As a result, recently the Board of Trustees approved Southeast to implement Epic enterprise-wide. The primary rationale was based upon the fact that clinicians need access to the complete EHR that spans the patient’s continuum of care. Access to such information is increasingly important in today’s environment where hospitals and providers will no longer be reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis but rather based on quality and coordination of care.
Thus, being able to manage patient care across the continuum in a cost-effective manner is viewed as central to Southeast’s future. In addition, the organization treats a large population of patients with multiple chronic conditions, so managing chronic diseases using evidence-based, real time support is essential. (Pages 634 through 636, Wager, Lee, and Glaser text)
This case study will permit students to ascertain the value of IT projects by examining traditional and nontraditional measures of return on investment (ROI).
More specifically, students will design metrics that will be used to evaluate the value of a particular health IT investment as it relates to the goals of the project. It is important to understand that in order to establish the value of any capital investment, there should be measures that aid leadership in determining if changes experienced after the implementation can be attributed to the investment or are they possibly linked to unrelated factors.
Finally, through this case, students will be able to not only anticipate factors that may diminish the value obtained through IT investments, but then be able to formulate strategies to overcome these barriers.
Directions
The students are expected to carefully read the assigned case study, then thoroughly and explicitly address each component of the corresponding case study questions, which are located on located on pages 634 to 636 of the Wager, Lee, and Glaser text.
The responses should reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), which is essential for someone being prepared to serve in an operational capacity within the healthcare and related industry.
There is no minimum number of references that need to be utilized to support the completion of this assignment; however, it is generally understood that any good case analysis will incorporate the appropriate quality and quantity of outside sources to support any suppositions and recommendations.
The submission will not exceed four (4) pages in length, excluding the title and references page.
The document must adhere to the APA writing style.
Finally, the document should be prepared as a Microsoft Word document and uploaded under the correct unit assignment page.