Watson Community Hospital: The Electronic Health Records System Case Study

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Abstract

This paper discusses the case study on Watson Community Hospital (WCH), which faced the problem of poor physician support. WCH proposed a strategy for updating its current electronic health records system in the company. Electronic health records (EHRs) are essential for healthcare organizations as they allow to store and manage of patient data and medical history efficiently, improving the quality of care and decreasing medical errors. This paper critically discusses the EHR project plan for WCH, analyzing its strengths, opportunities for improvement, and factors for the leadership team to consider in the decision-making process.

Introduction

Ambulatory electronic health records (EHRs) refer to digital versions of outpatient medical history. They play an essential role in transforming health care by storing and providing access to valuable information for different health care providers (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2019). EHR software is designed to manage patient data and systematize the clinical workflow effectively. A case study on Watson Community Hospital (WCH) addresses the problem of poor physician support and describes the strategy for updating the current electronic health records system in the company. This paper aims to critically discuss the EHR project plan for WCH, analyzing its strengths, opportunities for improvement, and factors for the leadership team to consider in the decision-making process.

Background

Watson Community Hospital is an acute care facility operated by Watson Community Association, a private nonprofit organization. The 200-bed hospital is situated in Arizona, comprising eight clinics. The clinicians employed by WCH specialize in family practice, internal medicine, gynecology, and infectious diseases. The current EHR system in the clinics was selected on the basis of compatibility with the Meditech software rather than efficiency. As a result, the company has faced adverse consequences such as unmet physicians’ needs and limited support for the program. Therefore, Watson Community Hospital aims to address the issue and implement a new EHR system that would be characterized by enhanced functionality and support.

Case Study Discussion

The Strengths of the Plan

Based on the analysis of the suggested plan, several strengths can be identified. In particular, the EHR initiative description covers various aspects of the program, providing information regarding the organization, scopes, and objectives of the project. Other important components include committee development, communication, and plan of work. Such a thorough approach to the planning phase is beneficial for the hospital as it can ensure the strategic success of the initiative and a smooth transition to a new EHR.

Furthermore, Watson Community Hospital involves the project’s stakeholders and clinic users in the communication process. By updating the target audience with updates and ensuring constant feedback, the clinics can identify the specific needs or issues, thus, enhancing the system’s efficiency and improving the quality of provided care. According to Meyerhoefer et al. (2018), patient satisfaction is an essential determinant when implementing an EHR system. Another strength of the plan is its efficiency in defining clear goals, assigning roles, and addressing the company’s overall strategic needs. Particularly important aspects of the project are its comprehensive approach and stakeholders’ engagement since they can ensure the staff’s compliance with the new system, reduce costs, and improve administrative processes.

Opportunities for the Plan’s Improvement

One way to improve the proposed plan is to employ experts with specific knowledge of managing ambulatory electronic health records. The internal teams can handle the workflow and address specific departments’ needs (Holmgren et al., 2021). At the same time, an outside company could ensure an efficient implementation of the EHR system. In this regard, ambulatory electronic health records are pivotal for primary care physicians, enabling them to keep a record of patient’s treatment and health history, reduce medical errors, ensure more accurate diagnosis processes, deliver guidelines-based care, and enhance patient data privacy (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2019). Therefore, it is critical to optimize the patient data management processes. If I were leading the effort, I would set deadlines for the teams involved to ensure their compliance with the project. I would identify all the resources and evaluate the required investment to ensure the long-term success of the plan.

Factors for the Leadership Team to Consider

Leadership patterns must consider several factors when deciding whether to stay with a single provider to support both the hospital and primary care. They include clinicians’ needs, patient safety, the system’s efficiency, as well as data integration opportunities. In this regard, it is essential to optimize operational processes, such as the clinician’s time to log into the system, access and integrate data quickly, and learn how to use the software in an efficient way (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2019). Such aspects as training, operational costs, and patient data safety are other critical factors to consider in the decision-making process.

Conclusion

To conclude, the analysis of the EHR project plan for WCH revealed that it is characterized by several strengths, such as its efficient planning process, attention to detail, clearly set goals, and the involvement of key stakeholders. At the same time, opportunities for improvement were determined along with the major aspects for the leadership to consider in the decision-making process. This assignment allowed me to improve my knowledge of EHR systems by addressing the practical needs of a company and evaluating the plan’s efficiency.

References

Holmgren, A. J., Downing, N. L., Bates, D. W., Shanafelt, T. D., Milstein, A., Sharp, C. D.,… & Schulman, K. A. (2021). Assessment of electronic health record use between US and non-US health systems. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(2), 251-259.

Mastrian, K., & McGonigle, D. (2019). Informatics for Health Professionals (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Meyerhoefer, C. D., Sherer, S. A., Deily, M. E., Chou, S. Y., Guo, X., Chen, J.,… & Levick, D. (2018). Provider and patient satisfaction with the integration of ambulatory and hospital EHR systems. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 25(8), 1054-1063.

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IvyPanda. "Watson Community Hospital: The Electronic Health Records System." July 24, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/watson-community-hospital-the-electronic-health-records-system/.

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