Question

You are the director of HIM at Community Hospital, a small hospital that has just merged with another hospital in your area. The facilities are roughly the same size. Approximately half of the physicians at your facility also have privileges at the other facility. With some exceptions, the two facilities have similar departments and services. Both facilities have some EHR capabilities and are able to interface because they use the same software vendor. Full computerization will not take place for at least 5 years. The administration of the two facilities would like to standardize the data collection with the goal of reducing the cost of forms and facilitating communication between the two facilities. As the senior director, you have been asked to coordinate this effort. What issues do you think should be addressed first? Who will you ask to assist in the project? What impact does this standardization project have on the HIM department?

Answer 1

There are several issues in collaborating the hospital information of two separate institution.

1. Duplication of work

2.Compiling the information of both institution together that is finding and merging patient information of both institution together.

3. Allocating serial numbers.

4. Standardizing the forms of both hospitals

5. Maintaining EMR

The hospital information management (HIM) can be broadly divided into two mainly information system for patient care and Managerial Information system. To assist this project is always better to seek the help of the software vendor as he provide software to both hospitals.

The initial priority should be given to standardizing the forms for the service of both hospitals.

In order to do so, the standard operating procedure (SOP) should be reviewed and revised accordingly. This can be done with the help of HODs of various department. Once the SOP of both institutions are standardized. Then forms for admission procedure, consents could be designed accordingly.

This will help to reduce duplication of work

Allocating serial numbers: New admission number or patient registration numbers could be given to the merged hospital patients as their old Electronic Health Record numbers are revised to the new hospital number as they give visit to hospital for any service. So EHR of the patients could be updated to the system.

Unified data collection of both hospital will have a greater impact on HIM.

1. It will be easier for Accounts department for accounting the bills and payments of the institutions.

2. Prevent duplication of work both clinically and operationally.

3. Improves the efficiency of the services rendered to the patient.

4. cost effectiveness made by standardizing the SOP