IM3001A Assessment Instructions
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Review the details of your assessment including the rubric. You will have the ability to submit the assessment once you submit your required pre-assessments and engage with your Faculty Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a substantive way about the competency.
Overview
For this Performance Task Assessment, you will respond to workplace scenarios that highlight the importance of nursing informatics in healthcare. Be sure to include references to support your responses to each series of prompts.
Submission Length: 3 pages
Instructions
To complete this Assessment, do the following:
Be sure to adhere to the indicated assignment length.
Download the Academic Writing Expectations Checklist to review prior to submitting your Assessment.
Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the SME will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.
All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided where appropriate. Submissions that do not meet these expectations will be returned without scoring.
Your response to this Performance Task should reflect the criteria provided in the Rubric and adhere to the required length. This Assessment requires submission of one (1) file. Save your file as follows: IM3001A_firstinitial_lastname (for example, IM3001A_J_Smith).
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Health Informatics in Nursing
To complete this Assessment, respond to the following 2-part components related to workplace scenarios involving health informatics in nursing.
Click each of the items below for more information on this Assessment.
Part 1: Health Informatics Orientation for New Nurses
Write a 1- to 2-page information sheet that addresses the following scenario:
Scenario:
You are responsible for orienting several new graduates to your nursing unit. The new hires are scheduled to begin an orientation session with the health informatics department. Prior to the orientation, the new hires need to gain a baseline understanding of the history and evolution of nursing informatics. To Help with their understanding, create a new-hire information sheet that addresses the following topics (1–2 pages):
Describe the key components that contribute to the definition of nursing informatics.
Provide a brief explanation of the historical evolution of health informatics in general.
Describe the aspects of healthcare that the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act sought to improve when it was signed into law.
Explain the concept of meaningful use and how it relates to nursing informatics.
Part 2: Electronic Health Records
Write a 1-page response that addresses the following scenario:
Scenario:
A patient approaches you after her consultation with her physician. Her physician had reviewed her electronic health record with her during the consultation. The patient realized that some of the information in her EHR was incorrect. The patient asks you to make changes to this information. Is this possible? Why or why not? Write a 1-page response that includes the following:
Describe what you would tell the patient in this scenario regarding making changes to her electronic health record (EHR).
Explain your reasons for responding to the patient in the way you describe.
Be sure to reference any legal requirements related to EHRs.
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Part 1: Health Informatics Orientation for New Nurses
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
Nursing informatics is a domain in the nursing profession that incorporates nursing science into analytical sciences and computer science to define, identify, manage and communicate patient information, as a way to enhance nursing practice. Strudwick et al. (2019) define nursing informatics is the implementation of systems that enhance the use of patient data and information to improve patients’ wellness (Kleib et al., 2021). Nursing informatics is also the use of science to collect and disseminate information, data, wisdom, and knowledge in nursing. The adoption of nursing informatics is achieved through the use of information technology, information structures, and information processes in nursing practice (Brewer et al., 2020). Health records are the fundamental component in the acquisition, storage, and analysis of data. Nurses use informatics to enhance communication for coordination of care, enhance care delivery, implement evidence-based practice, and analyze the outcomes of care.
The use of health informatics started in the 1960s when researchers and healthcare providers questioned how computers could be used to help diagnose medical diseases (Kleib et al., 2021). Computers had developed to the point that they could manage a large amount of data, and there had been some early attempts to computers to manage health data and information in dentistry (Strudwick et al., 2019). The American Society for Testing and Materials stepped up and set the first standards for the management of health care data (Brewer et al., 2020). It gave guidelines regarding data reporting, data content, electronic health record systems, and the security of health information systems.
With time, information technology continued to progress, and so did the demand for data exchange protocols in medical disciplines. The first disciplines that took up health informatics were pharmacy and radiology (Kwak & Hui, 2019). With time, other disciplines also joined in, and the trend has continued to this day. Presently, healthcare organizations use customized health informatics programs to help integrate all their systems (Kleib et al., 2021). The evolution of nursing informatics is also evident in the establishment of higher education programs in nursing informatics. It is also apparent in the establishment of many other professional organizations whose purpose is to create standards and establish the scope of practice (Strudwick et al., 2019). There is also the issuing of certification to healthcare institutions that successfully implement and utilize health informatics.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act encouraged the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in health organizations to improve the efficiency, security, and privacy of healthcare data (Kleib et al., 2021). The HITECH Act also sought to improve the quality of healthcare services offered and to reduce health disparities (Kwak & Hui, 2019). The Act provided financial incentives to institutions that adopted electronic health records and spiked the penalties for institutions that would be found violating the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules (Saheb & Saheb, 2019). As such, healthcare providers did not have a choice but to implement EHRs.
An important concept in the implementation of health informatics is meaningful use. In nursing informatics, meaningful use is the use of technology to manage electronic health records and to ensure that this information is exchanged and shared in a meaningful way to improve patient care (Kwak & Hui, 2019). The meaningful use concept seeks to improve public healthcare outcomes, enhance care coordination among healthcare providers, and ensure private health information remains confidential (Saheb & Saheb, 2019). Meaningful use is also applicable when engaging with the patients and their families. It ensures that the communication is constructive and maintains its purpose of helping to make decisions that impact the patients’ health positively.
In conclusion, nursing informatics exists to make the practice of nursing easier and wholesome. It integrates all patient information and ensures that this information is used meaningfully, without violating the patient’s rights to privacy.
References
Brewer, L. C., Fortuna, K. L., Jones, C., Walker, R., Hayes, S. N., Patten, C. A., & Cooper, L. A. (2020). Back to the future: achieving health equity through health informatics and digital health. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(1), e14512.
Kleib, M., Chauvette, A., Furlong, K., Nagle, L., Slater, L., & McCloskey, R. (2021). Approaches for defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies: a scoping review. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 19(4), 794-841.
Kwak, G. H. J., & Hui, P. (2019). Deephealth: Deep learning for health informatics. ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare, 37(8), 396-404.
Saheb, T., & Saheb, M. (2019). Analyzing and visualizing knowledge structures of health informatics from 1974 to 2018: a bibliometric and social network analysis. Healthcare Informatics Research, 25(2), 61-72.
Strudwick, G., Nagle, L., Kassam, I., Pahwa, M., & Sequeira, L. (2019). Informatics competencies for nurse leaders: a scoping review. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(6), 323-330.
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Part 2: Electronic Health Records
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
If a patient requests to make changes to their electronic health records, I will let the patient know that it is impossible to erase the existing records. I would, however, inform the patient that there is a window that allows for them to make amendments to their health records. The request for amendment must be made in writing and signed by the patient or their representative. But, the decision on whether to amend or deny the appeal lies with the institution, and that we would communicate that decision in 60 days after receiving their formal request. If we choose to make the amendments, we will ensure that the inaccurate information is still legible and state the reason for the error.
My response to the client is based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines. The HIPAA has regulations that require all entities it covers to implement physical, technical, and administrative safeguards that appropriately and reasonably preserve the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of electronic health records (EHRs) (Samaritan, 2013). In maintaining the integrity of the EHRs, the HIPAA does not allow patients or healthcare providers to correct the health records (Szalados, 2021. Even if the information therein is erroneous, the patient cannot make changes.
Instead, the HIPAA gives provides a window for the amendment. Instead of completely erasing the existing records, the patient can have additional information that negates the current records (Szalados, 2021). But, since the patient cannot independently make the adjustments, he or she must request a healthcare provider to amend the records on their behalf (Samaritan, 2013). The HIPAA gives guidelines for the amendment process. For example, the request for amendment must be made formally in writing, and the provider retains the discretion of either consent or deny the request. The healthcare provider must also notify parties who received the original records of the information added to the records.
References
Samaritan, G. (2013). Correcting EHR errors without getting into trouble. Medscape, May 29.
Szalados, J. E. (2021). Medical Records and Confidentiality: Evolving Liability Issues Inherent in the Electronic Health Record, HIPAA, and Cybersecurity. The Medical-Legal Aspects of Acute Care Medicine: A Resource for Clinicians, Administrators, and Risk Managers, 315.
