Question

Project Management

What are 10 risks that could occur during a project implementing a new healthcare system (HIT) to track patient information within a hospital. Are any of them unique?

Answer 1

The implementation of health information technology projects for tracking patient information is at the forefront of most policy agendas internationally. The safety of the patient information is one of the factors which reflects the level of quality in health services and is considered a priority area in healthcare. Assuring this Patient Data safety is becoming increasingly complicated, given that there is a range of diverse potential risks, with no single method capable of guaranteeing a risk-free environment.

With the continued adoption of electronic health records - as well as an increase in the portability of sensitive clinical and business data, high-profile security breaches, and enhanced compliance requirements - the need to secure patients' personal and private information is a priority within the healthcare industry. Managing risk is the systematic process of identifying, analyzing, prioritizing, and responding to risk.

Risks that can occur during implementing a new healthcare system (HIT) to track patient information within a hospital are

1. Planning Risk:

The Scope and planning, Management commitment is critical and needs to be built into the plan. If the project is too low in the management hierarchy, this task takes on added importance and takes more time as well. Support infrastructure must be identified or built into the plan.

2. Initiation Risks:

SMART goals are necessary to engage the best efforts of the team and to sustain credibility for the results.

3. The Cost

Cost is one of the most important risk factors to consider. To implement a secured patient information tracking system, we need to depend on software and technologies. Hence implementing a secure and reliable system costs much. The knowledge and skill level of your staff must be taken into account as well. Savvier employees will pick up the basics of using the software pretty quickly, but others may require extra training and support.

4. Security and Privacy Violations

Systems are safe and secure; doctors and practice managers still have legitimate worries about data breaches caused by ransomware and other cybersecurity hacks. Privacy issues faced by most practices include data tampering, loss of data following a natural disaster, and unauthorized access to patient information. Hence proper implementation of security policies and procedures has to be done. A frequent audit check has to be carried out to avoid a security breach.

5. Usability

Education is key whenever you implement new software. Without proper training, it can be difficult for some medical practices to learn how to use the Patient information tracking system. Sometimes the problem lies not with user error but with the system itself, which may have a clunky interface with options that are hard to find. Hence proper measures have to be taken to identify and mitigate this risk at the planning stage.

6. Time and Data Migration

When you install the software for tracking patient health information, you will have a lot of patient records now on paper that you’ll have to bring into the system. Transcribing paper records into the system can be time-consuming. Someone will have to type it in, and the risk is that medical professionals must make sure that no information is lost in the process.

One method to speed things up is to use optical character recognition software. You scan the paper document, and the software converts the text and numbers into machine-readable data. While this is largely automated, you will still need to monitor the process and proofread files to make sure there were no glitches in word recognition.

7. Interoperability

The new Patient Information Tracking system will not be the only application running in busy medical practices. There may be many application that has to be interconnected for data processing as well as financial processing. Lack of interoperability is a major risk that we need to account for before implementing the project.

It is a good idea to have an IT department verify that the new system will be compatible with all other systems, such as practice management software or unique software that was developed exclusively for the organization.

8. Access Risk

Preventing internal breaches can be difficult as the people accessing PHI data are permitted to do so. However, insider breaches must be detected quickly to mitigate the effects. Proper Access Management has to be done to mitigate this risk. Includes several controls that organizations can implement to limit the risk of a PHI breach. Each employee should have unique login credentials enabling organizations to track who accesses what information. Access management also includes physical controls such as locks in areas that contain PHI data.

9. Legal Risks:

The legal risks include risks related to contractual and Compliance risks. Policies and procedures have to be written as per industry standards and implement the same in the organization with strict rules and regulations. A frequent audit and reviews can mitigate the issues caused by compliance risks.

10. Technology Risks:

For health systems, all internet-connected devices pose security risks. It's not just wearable devices that are at risk. Perhaps more alarmingly, implantable devices could be hacked too. Healthcare organizations, for their part, should have teams dedicated to cybersecurity. Those controls include encryption of the data from the device and segmented networks—networks separate from those that email runs on, for instance—on the receiving end. Ensure adequate customer support coverage – 24x7x356 and high availability, have escalation procedures in place for mission-critical applications