Quality and Regulatory
Introduction
Quality and Regulatory outcomes look at the use of Privacy and Security in relation to PHI, regulations regarding EHR, application of systems to ensure patient safety. Having the ability to understand the importance of protecting patient information and the resources needs to maintain those standards.
Artifact #1 - FMEA flowchart and table
In the project we looked at how the use of home health technology could be impacted by cybersecurity threats and used a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to breakdown security issues and interventions needed. The use of home health technologies has increased tenfold over the last decade and with cybersecurity threats following it along. The need to protect not only patient data but also patient health is at the forefront of health technology companies’ concerns.
This FMEA looks at pacemaker technology and how it communicates with the company and transmitting vital patient information for care. Having a 5-step process how the device operations can be interrupted and what is needed to remedy the issue. It is on a constant cycle to constantly improve the device in order to protect the user most importantly but also making the company put the patients’ best interests forward by also looking out for their own products. Knowing what needs to be fixed, replaced, or if new technologies need to be developed to combat malware and hacking that would compromise their patients.
Artifact #2 - Charter Template
A project involving the implementation of a EHR program for a small clinic that had been exclusively using paper charting was broken down into a charter worksheet which gave an overview of the project plan. This worksheet gave an overview of the purpose of the project, constraints, assumptions, risks for program, and technology requirements.
Understanding the needs for a small clinic such as this one is important in that it helped me to learn about working within the resources available and taking advantage of those available resources. Learning about what is needed to run the program and how to run it efficiently was an important step to realize. Having the needs to meeting minimum technology requirements to run the program safely was the largest hurdle and designing a program that could be used efficiently with the staff trained appropriately to their ability and getting key stakeholders involved to get the project moving forward.
Artifact #3 - Technical Safeguards Audit
Using technical safeguards audit tool from the ONC under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assess those tools are in place to safeguard the new EHR and technology involved within the clinic EHR implementation project.
This tool helped me to understand the threats and vulnerabilities within the new EHR implementation with the hardware that was installed fulfill this transition. Multiple scenarios were given, and I was tasked with looking at the technical setup of the system to be implemented if it met those scenarios and how to fulfill those standards. If the standards were not met, I would then look on how to resolve the technical vulnerability or if the situation justified just monitoring and the threat not as great to the existing system. This helped to create a greater understanding of the technical needs and vulnerabilities to have a web connected system, an electronic system protected to the best of the practices ability and resources available.
ARTIFACT ATTACHMENTS