Free paper Sample: HIT Governance and Decision Rights

The adoption of Health Informatics Technology (HIT) implementation in healthcare services provision is unavoidable in the modern world. HIT management involves employing modern technology such as electronic health records, electronic prescriptions, and mobile health technology in a healthcare organization. HIT management consists of identifying the required technology in the healthcare facility and establishing the benefits that it will bring to the organization both in the short run and long run. Once the technology is selected, the next role in the informatics system's management is allocating appropriate staff to the facilities. These informatics systems have a great benefit to the business. This paper will thematically review various literature on HIT governance and decision rights.

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Healthcare information technology strategic planning involves implementing a wide range of information technology in the whole healthcare organization. Such technology includes Electronic health records (EHR), patient health records (PHR), insurance exchange plans, and other modern healthcare methods. On the other hand, HIT governance is applying rules and policies, including informal ones, to monitor the relationship between stake healthcare stakeholders and the organization (Lindros, 2017). While healthcare IT strategic planning aims to develop systems that will make the healthcare sector better in the present and future, governance supervises and ensures that the management follows the right procedures for managing the health facilities (Lindros, 2017). HIT governance requires the stakeholders to assess the needs, conditions, and available options that can make it easy for the organization to run smoothly.

The process of HIT includes looking for finance to acquire the HIT facilities and procuring them in consultation with the relevant authorities. The healthcare management staff needs to collaborate with both partners and planners (stakeholders) in deciding what HIT facilities to acquire. HIT strategic planning also includes developing health technology policies. The HIT governance aims to ensure that the healthcare players use the technology in a way that is in line with the organization and national rules and procedures.

Both HIT strategic management and HIT governance have a role in improving the healthcare sector. The effectiveness of both governance and strategic planning of HIT plays a vital role in determining the healthcare system's success. Both HIT strategic planning and HIT governance make healthcare management set and achieve organizational goals (Mitchell & Shortell, 2010).

Although many people ignore healthcare system governance, it is one of the essential elements of healthcare procedures. The emergence of portals and online healthcare management systems brought the need to develop frameworks that people could use to assess healthcare systems' effectiveness. The advances to establish these systems occurred between 1996 and 2016 when the healthcare stakeholders developed six different frameworks of HIT governance and planning (Pyone et al., 2017). Three of those theoretical frameworks applied knowledge of political science and public management.

Out of all those healthcare management principles, only five apply to HIT governance and its strategic management. HIT managers use frameworks of common-pool resources, principle-agent theory, and the cybernetics theory (Pyone et al., 2017). Governance depends on practices that were set on by political or national leaders. Each element of a healthcare organization applies a complicated and unique way of governing the HIT procedures. Responsibilities in the organization are distributed among various members of staff.

Since healthcare planning and governance is a technical and challenging process, it requires organized policies to assess. Therefore, the frameworks to evaluate the practices point out the areas of weaknesses and strengths in the governance of the healthcare IT system. Such frameworks and policies are also helpful in identifying problems in the healthcare system and proposing possible solutions (Pyone et al., 2017).

According to economists, the law cannot fully describe governance since the practice is not scientific. It is not possible that HIT governance comes from a law, a statute, or a constitution. Instead, they argue that each level of the organization has an independent way of running. This framework argues that even if a country passes a law at the national level, it might not positively influence the entire healthcare sector's running since the reach subsection has a way of running (Pyone et al., 2017). Therefore, scientists argue that HIT governance is not complete in itself as there is no standard way of governing an institution.

HIT strategic planning and governance are very instrumental for healthcare, for they both make the organization to be better equipped. The practices also give the organizations complete access to finance sources, which makes the running of the healthcare centers easy. HIT governance and strategic planning also result in better and more sustainable decision-making by evaluating possible alternatives (Chhotray & Stoker, 2008). These practices result in the development of more efficient ways of running healthcare centers. The use of modern methods of HIT has made the future of healthcare service delivery predictable through HIT strategic planning and HIT governance.

Both HIT strategic management and HIT governance are very crucial practices in Healthcare management. Although these two practices are different, they help make the healthcare sector more effective by making them able to acquire more effective technologies. The techniques also make the healthcare sector more effective by providing digital solutions to clinical procedures. Proper governance of the HIT system helps the healthcare staff solve healthcare issues and make service delivery the best. Through this review, it was not possible to establish the future of both HIT strategic planning and governance since the literature on it was not available.

References

Lindros, K. (2017). What is IT governance? A formal way to align IT & business strategy.

Pyone, T., Smith, H., & van den Broek, N. (2017). Frameworks to assess health systems governance: a systematic review. Health Policy and Planning, 32(5), 710-722. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czx007

Mitchell, S. M., & Shortell, S. M. (2010). The governance and management of effective community health partnerships: a typology for research, policy, and practice. The Milbank Quarterly, 78(2), 241-289. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.00170

Oliveira, G. (2017). The difference between governance and IT management

Chhotray, V., & Stoker, G. (2008). Governance theory and practice: A cross-disciplinary approach. Springer.