Operational and Implementation Problems Coursework

Operational and Implementation Problems - Coursework Example According to research from a few years ago, technology currently in use in assessment and referral processes in children’s health care facilities is highly ineffective, error prone, wrongly used and incapable of delivering on its expectation. This report analyses problems facing healthcare facilities serving children with regard to their assessment and referral processes. Healthcare System Design The healthcare information system belongs in a broader context of the health care system structure. Many factors, evidently affects its operation and efficiency, from the origination to its operation and use of the information it generates. Below is a diagram of a healthcare information system according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (Lippeveld & Sauerborn, 2005), the diagram elucidates the defining role the management plays in the design and implementation of new healthcare information systems. From the management, it is apparent that the management oversees the supply of res ources to use in establishing the new information systems, and lays a foundation for the kind of output they expect from the systems. Problems in Computerised Healthcare Systems serving Children Broadhurst et al. (2010) claims that the existing initial assessment systems for children’s services exhibit deep flaws and acute malfunctions. Medical institutions continually face situations where they have to deal with more patients than they have capacity for; consequently, meeting the right performance standards becomes a distant reality. For instance, the process of classifying incoming referral information happens in a sloppy and haphazard manner, and with little informational backing. Because of flawed manual... This paper approves that the common management practice of inconsiderately punishing employees for mistakes done within their area of responsibility is a huge impediment to progress and efficiency of referral processes in children’s health care facilities. The added inefficiency of the internal assessment systems also contributes largely to this disconcerting trend. The problems in management of the referral and assessment systems spills into the quality of service accorded to the end-users, who often suffer neglect and wrongful treatment as a result. In addition, the assessment systems themselves carry serious inherent flaws, and the audits and assessments are often rushed and imprecise, concentrating on some areas deemed more important and ignoring most of the other areas requiring detailed audit. This essay makes a conclusion that despite heavy technological investments in IT services for children health care facilities, some of the agendas the systems sought to resolve by replacing traditional manual systems persist. The incidences of errors remain worryingly high. Analysts suggest that the baffling occurrence many be as a direct result of poor implementation methodology of the technological referral and assessment systems, which were implemented without careful assessment of the design requirements of the systems for the health facilities. While not dismissing the use of technology in modern governance, the analysts call for a re-examination of the factors critical to the implementation of a successful information system for health care facilities.