Educating on Recent Nursing Informatics Policies- A Fact Sheet for Healthcare Professionals

Educating on Recent Nursing Informatics Policies- A Fact Sheet for Healthcare Professionals

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 empowers the Department of Health and Human Services to supervise the promotion of health information technology, key among them the safety, quality, and security of protected health information (PHI). Adler-Milstein and Jha (2017) affirm that the HITECH Act was enacted to motivate the implementation of electronic health records alongside supporting medical technology innovation in the United States. One way through which the policy has spurred motivation relates to monetary incentives being issued to providers for being able to demonstrate meaningful utilization of electronic health records.

One system implementation ramification that has arisen from the enactment of the HITECH Act revolves around improved HIPPA enforcement. HealthIT.gov. (2018).  notes that the policy has led to more rigorous enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This has been realized through the mandatory penalties being levied on intentional neglect. The penalties levied on private practices and hospitals usually cost an upward of $300,000, with uncorrected violation carrying fees as high as $2 million.  Besides, the Act also mandates all practices to notify patients in instances of data breaches related to PHI. The Act stipulates that the Department of Health and Human Services must be notified if the breach affects more than 500 patients.

For patients, one major implication accompanying the policy can be seen from the lens of electronic health record accessibility.  The policy mandates that patients, alongside authorized third parties, should be issued access to their protected health information in electronic format (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017, p.149). Within the organization I am currently working in, several policies have been implemented that ensure the safeguarding of protected health information. One of the policies requires that each member of the clinical staff should attend at least 240 hours of training provided in-house concerning preventing data breaches alongside identifying and reporting them.

References

Adler-Milstein, J., & Jha, A. K. (2017). HITECH Act drove large gains in the adoption of hospital electronic health records. Health Affairs, 36(8), 1416-1422.

HealthIT.gov. (2018). Health IT legislation. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/topic/laws-regulation-and-policy/health-it-legislation

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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As a professional nurse, you are expected to apply your expertise to patient care and, on occasion, share that expertise.

With evolving technology and continuous changes to regulations designed to keep up with these changes, there is usually a need to share information and expertise to inform colleagues, leadership, patients, and other stakeholders.

Educating on Recent Nursing Informatics Policies- A Fact Sheet for Healthcare Professionals

In this Assignment, you will study a recent nursing informatics-related healthcare policy and share the relevant details via a fact sheet designed to inform and educate.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources on healthcare policy and regulatory/legislative topics related to health and nursing informatics.
Consider the role of the nurse informaticist in a healthcare organization’s compliance with various policies and regulations, such as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
Research and select one health or nursing informatics policy (within the past 5 years) or regulation for further study.
The Assignment: (1 page not including the title and reference page)

Create a 1-page fact sheet that your healthcare organization could hypothetically use to explain the health or nursing informatics policy/regulation you selected. Your fact sheet should address the following:

Briefly and generally explain the policy or regulation you selected.
Address the impact of the policy or regulation you selected on system implementation.
Address the impact of the policy or regulation you selected on clinical care, patient/provider interactions, and workflow.
Highlight organizational policies and procedures that are/will be in place at your healthcare organization to address the policy or regulation you selected. Be specific.
Use APA format and include a title page, in-text citations, and a reference page.
Use the Safe Assign Drafts to check your match percentage before submitting your work.