Case Study, Stage 2: Data Flow Among Health Care Systems

Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the “UMUC Family Clinic Case Study”, the course readings assigned to date, and feedback on your graded Stage 1 assignment.

Purpose of this Assignment

This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:

Analyze the flow of data and information among disparate health information systems to support internal and external business processes
Examine the implications of ethical, legal, and regulatory policy issues on health care information systems

UMUC Family Clinic Medical Practice

In your Stage 1 assignment, you created process models for the patient visit process in the UMUC Family Clinic. For the Stage 3 assignment, you will identify an Electronic Health Records System that will address the process problems at the Clinic. The EHR system you identify will initially be implemented at the UMUC Family Clinic, but will soon need to be able to connect and communicate with external systems. As part of analyzing the requirements for the new system, one step is to consider how that system will enable the UMUC Family Clinic to exchange electronic data with other health organizations – such as other providers, pharmacies, insurance companies, and even patients themselves. The case study mentions several of these. For this assignment you will select two types of external organizations and describe what kind of data would flow between the UMUC Family Clinic and those organizations and how that can be done effectively.

Assignment

Review the UMUC Family Clinic Case Study and identify two types of external organizations (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, laboratories, pharmacies, etc.) with which the UMUC Family Clinic needs to communicate and the purpose of the communication.

Make a list of at least five data elements or items of information that would be shared with each external organization, and explain whether that information is going out from the UMUC Family Clinic or coming in from each of the two external organizations. Note: More than five data elements are required to earn full points.

Conduct some external research and find at least one data interchange standard that would apply to the data that is exchanged with each organization. Provide a brief description of what the standard is, what it requires, and why it is important. (There are some specific data interchange standards that apply to health data exchange; if the same standard applies to the data exchange with both organizations, explain how it relates to each.)

Research, list and discuss three legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations that would relate to this data exchange and explain what needs to be done to ensure compliance with each. You must include at least one legal/regulatory consideration and at least one ethical consideration.

Formatting

For academic writing, the writer is expected to write in the third person. In third person, the writer avoids the pronouns I, we, my, our, you and your. The third person is used to make the writing more objective by taking the individual, the “self,” out of the writing. This method is very helpful for academic writing, a form in which facts, not opinion, drive the tone of the text. Writing in the third person allows the writer to come across as unbiased and thus more informed.

Your paper should be about two pages, single spaced.

You should include at least one external source. These are sources other than those provided in the classroom. Sources should be scholarly or professional in nature, rather than random websites. NOTE: More than one external source is required to earn full points.

Add a title page, and a reference page.

Use APA formatted citations and references for all external sources used.

Compare your final work to the rubric to be sure you have met content and quality criteria.

Submit your paper via your Assignment folder as a Word document, or a document that can be read in Word.

Your paper will be evaluated on whether or not you correctly incorporated the course concepts from the textbook and readings, and have addressed all parts of the assignment, using the rubric below.

GRADING RUBRIC:

Criteria

90-100%

Far Above Standards

80-89%

Above Standards

70-79%

Meets Standards

60-69%

Below Standards

< 60%

Well Below Standards

Possible Points

Communication with External Organizations

9-10 Points

The two external organizations identified and the explanation of the communication between them and the UMUC Family Clinic are clearly appropriate and explained in detail using course vocabulary; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis, and/or critical thinking.

8 Points

The two external organizations identified and the explanation of the communication between them and the UMUC Family Clinic are appropriate and well explained using course vocabulary; demonstrates understanding of course concepts and critical thinking.

7 Points

Two external organizations are identified and an explanation of the communication between them and the UMUC Family Clinic is provided.

6 Points

Two external organizations are not identified, or are incorrect; and/or explanation of the communication between them and the UMUC Family Clinic may lack demonstration of understanding of course concepts, analysis, and/or critical thinking.

0-5 Points

Identification of external organizations and/or explanation of communication is incomplete or inadequate.

15

Data and Data Flow

27-30 Points

More than 5 data elements are correctly identified for each of the two external organizations; the direction of the data flow is appropriate to the case study; strongly demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis, and critical thinking.

24-26 Points

At least 5 data elements are correctly identified for each of the two external organizations; the direction of the data flow is appropriate to the case study; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis, and critical thinking.

21-23 Points

At least 5 data elements are identified for each of the two external organizations; direction of the flow of data is appropriate to the case study.

18-20 Points

Fewer than 5 data elements may be presented for each of the two external organizations; flow of data may be less than correct, or not appropriate to the case study.

0-17 Points

Data elements and flows are not presented or are not appropriate to the case study, or are otherwise inadequate.

30

Data Interchange Standards

18-20 Points

Two different data interchange standards are listed and explained, and are applicable to the case study, with complete explanations of the standards, what they require and why they are important.

16-17 Points

At least one data interchange standard is explained, along with how it applies to the data interchange with both external organizations, is applicable to the case study, with a complete explanation of the standard, what it requires and why it is important.

14-15 Points

At least one data interchange standard is explained, along with how it applies to the data interchange with both external organizations, is applicable to the case study, with an explanation of the standard, what it requires and why it is important.

12-13 Points

At least one data interchange standard is explained, but how it applies to the data interchange with both external organizations or to the case study is incomplete; and/or explanation of the standard, what it requires and why it is important may be incomplete.

0-11 Points

Data interchange standard is not identified, or explanation is severely lacking.

20

Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Considerations

27-30 Points

Three legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations that would relate to the identified data exchanges are identified, with a convincing explanation of what needs to be done to ensure compliance with each; both legal/regulatory and ethical considerations are included; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, sophisticated analysis, and critical thinking.

24-26 Points

Three legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations that would relate to the identified data exchanges are identified, with a good explanation of what needs to be done to ensure compliance with each; both legal/regulatory and ethical considerations are included; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis, and critical thinking.

21-23 Points

Three legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations that would relate to the identified data exchanges are identified, with an explanation of what needs to be done to ensure compliance with each is provided using course vocabulary and concepts; both legal/regulatory and ethical considerations are included.

18-20 Points

Fewer than three legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations are listed; they may not relate to the identified data exchanges; explanations may be incomplete; and/or may not address both legal/regulatory and ethical considerations; may be lacking in demonstration of understanding of course concepts, analysis, and/or critical thinking.

0-17 Points

List and explanation of legal, regulatory, or ethical considerations may be very incomplete or missing.

30

External Research

9-10 Points

More than one source other than the course material is incorporated and used effectively. Sources used are relevant and timely. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.

8 Points

At least one source other than the course material is incorporated and used effectively. Source(s) used are relevant and timely. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.

7 Points

At least one source other than the course material is incorporated correctly. Reference is cited using APA style.

6 Points

A source other than the course material may be used, but is not properly incorporated or used; and/or is not effective or appropriate; and/or is not relevant or timely; and/or does not follow APA style for references and citations.

0-5 Points

No external research is incorporated or reference listed is not cited within text.

10

Report Format

9-10 Points

Report is very well organized and is easy to read. Very few or no errors; demonstrates correct sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; written in third person and presented in a professional format.

8 Points

Report reflects effective organization; may have a few errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; written in third person and presented in a professional format.

7 Points

Report is organized and may have some errors in sentence structure, grammar and spelling. Report is written in third person.

6 Points

Report is not well organized, and/or contains several grammar and/or spelling errors; and/or report is not written in third person.

0-5 Points

Report is extremely poorly written; and/or contains many grammar and/or spelling errors; and/or does not convey the information.

10

TOTAL Points

Possible

100