Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/healthcare-it-operations-patient-safety

Introduction

### Course Review: Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff **Introduction to the Course** In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, the integration of Information Technology (IT) into healthcare operations has never been more crucial. The Coursera course titled **"Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff"** stands out as a comprehensive resource designed for individuals involved in health IT. This course not only explores the fundamental technologies that underpin healthcare operations, such as electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, and medical devices, but also emphasizes the importance of patient safety and operational efficiency. ### Overview The course begins with a strong foundation in Health IT, setting the stage for a deeper dive into various technologies that impact both providers and patients. Each module is carefully structured to provide relevant insights and practical knowledge, making it particularly beneficial for IT support specialists who are on the front lines of healthcare IT support. **Syllabus Breakdown** 1. **Telemedicine, Patient Portals, and Medical Devices** - This module explores the burgeoning role of telemedicine and patient portals in modern healthcare. You'll learn about different telemedicine delivery methods—such as asynchronous, synchronous, and remote patient monitoring—and hear firsthand accounts from professionals who adapted quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, you’ll witness a real-world scenario involving an IT help desk agent assisting a parent with accessing billing information, highlighting the crucial interpersonal skills required in IT support roles. Understanding the behind-the-scenes challenges of medical device installations, including networking concepts, rounds out this module. 2. **Operational Needs in Health IT** - This section dives into various operational challenges, such as network outages during EHR implementations or issues impacting patient safety. Here, you’ll learn about self-service tickets, priority levels, and the importance of strong problem-solving skills in troubleshooting complex issues. The practical demos presented are invaluable for anyone looking to gain hands-on experience in Health IT support. 3. **JIRA and Documentation** - JIRA is a powerful tool for tracking and managing IT issues, and this module introduces you to its processes. You’ll find out what constitutes a JIRA ticket, how to document issues effectively, and the critical nature of maintaining clear communication during both scheduled and unscheduled downtimes. This module not only emphasizes effective documentation but also equips you with strategies for navigating unexpected challenges. 4. **Health IT and Patient Safety** - The final module focuses on the essential link between Health IT and patient safety. You will learn about high reliability organizations, the significance of checklists, and specific safety concepts such as medication errors and near misses. This segment underscores the vital role IT professionals play in promoting a culture of safety within healthcare settings. ### Recommendations **Who Should Take This Course?** This course is highly recommended for: - **IT Support Specialists** looking to enhance their understanding of the healthcare environment. - **Healthcare Professionals** interested in the technology side of patient care. - **Students and Professionals** aiming to transition into Health IT roles. **Key Takeaways:** - Gain practical skills through real-world scenarios. - Understand various technologies impacting patient care. - Develop crucial problem-solving and interpersonal skills. - Learn about patient safety and the operational factors that contribute to it. **Conclusion** "Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff" is an excellent investment for anyone seeking to navigate the complexities of Health IT. With its well-structured modules and practical insights, this course prepares you to meet the challenges head-on while advocating for patient safety and operational excellence. Whether you're new to the field or looking to solidify your existing knowledge, this course is a fantastic stepping stone towards a successful career in Health IT.

Syllabus

Telemedicine, Patient Portals, and Medical Devices

In this module you will learn about telemedicine and patient portals. These are 2 important technologies in healthcare that are playing a bigger role in the patient and provider experience. You’ll learn about different types of telemedicine delivery such as asynchronous, synchronous, and remote patient monitoring. You’ll hear from the Director of Telemedicine about what it was like introducing virtual visits in a rapid fashion during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an IT support staff member, you’re not just tasked with providing support to physicians, nurses and other allied health professionals. You’ll also be called on to support patients or their caregivers when they run into challenges with telemedicine visits or patient portals. During this module, you’ll watch a scenario where an IT Help desk agent helps a concerned parent who is trying to access some billing information regarding his son. Pay attention to the calm way in which the agent helps him complete the proxy and guarantor information that is needed in order to gain the proper access. We’ll also take you behind-the-scenes during a medical device installation. Watch as a system field engineer installs a new piece of radiology equipment. Through this real- world scenario, you’ll be introduced to concepts of IP addresses, MAC addresses, and networking issues (LAN, WLAN).

There are many different operational needs in Health IT. In your future job, you may be helping to troubleshoot a network outage that takes place during implementation of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) at a hospital. Perhaps there’s a dashboard in the command center that is not working. There could be patient safety issues arising from a recent flood in the basement of an ambulatory surgical center. Regardless of where you work in Health IT support, concepts like self-service tickets, priority levels, tiered support and various help desk resources will play a role. In this module, you’ll watch a demo of the steps taken by the provider when initially submitting a self-service ticket. We’ll also cover situations where a self-service ticket shouldn’t be submitted because of the criticality or severity of the issue. Be rest assured that in addition to relying on your training and strong problem-solving skills, there will be other resources at your disposal when you begin working in Health IT Support. Examples include a standard list of questions to ask when on a help desk call, troubleshooting documents, tip sheets and knowledge base articles. Help desks can’t script every single scenario that’s encountered. But especially when you first start in a new role, having a list of standard questions that might be appropriate regardless of the call type is useful. It won’t take you long to remember that at the start of each interaction you need to confirm the caller’s full name, their user ID, and a reliable call back number. You’ll also become savvy in eliciting information about when the problem started and whether it can be reproduced. Over time, you'll get better at distinguishing between software versus hardware issues and having a clear escalation path if It’sit’s not something you can resolve. It will take time however to gain comfort in knowing when an issue is more of an enterprise-wide problem with other sites being involved rather than just something impacting a single user. There will also be times when all your resources don’t help you with the right answer. This is where teamwork, communication, and documentation are key in helping to get a Health IT issue resolved. At the end of this module, you’ll learn about the role patient wristbands and barcode scanning in healthcare. We’ll cover some of the ways in which issues can arise that may lead to an employee contacting the help desk. We’ll wrap up with a lesson on the many uses of printers in healthcare, such as printing of specimen labels before a lab draw, medical records for a nursing home, prescriptions for a patient, disability forms for a physical therapist, or discharge instructions before a patient leaves the hospital. When you receive a call from a clinician or healthcare staff member regarding a problem with printing it can be tough to pinpoint what the exact issue is. We’ll go through a systematic approach that can you help you in isolating whether it’s an issue with the printer itself, the computer, network, or the application.

In this module you’ll be introduced to the JIRA process that can be used for tracking and managing changes in Health IT. We’ll share with you what the different parts that make up a JiraJIRA ticket are and some of examples of how a ticket can move towards being resolved. You’ll gain appreciation for why clear documentation is essential when working to resolve issues. Despite the best laid plans, there are of course times when health information systems are not up and running. That’s why you need to be aware of scheduled and unscheduled downtimes as well as the downtime procedures that need to be implemented when these situations occur. You’ll also get to hear about one of the toughest tickets Liz has dealt with during an unscheduled downtime.

In the final module of this course, we focus on patient safety. We’ll go into detail about what it means to be part of a high reliability organization in healthcare. You’ll hear about the role of Health IT in promoting patient safety. We’ll cover the importance of checklists and define concepts like medication errors, near misses, and sentinel events.