Office Automation and Group Collaboration
As technology advances and corporations expand nationally and globally the need for office automation and group collaboration software has become a necessity to stay connected. Office automation refers to computers and other office machinery that uses networking applications to enhance work efficiency and performance and the sharing of information for day to day operations. Group collaboration or “groupware” allows multiple users of this collaborative software to work together to achieve a common goal. E-mail and texting are just two small examples of group collaboration.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers or UPMC is an organization of multiple hospitals and outpatient facilities throughout Pennsylvania, the Middle East and Europe. Supporting an organization of such a great magnitude requires a massive information technology infrastructure. UPMC maintains an internal network and uses a variety of office automation equipment and collaboration software. Microsoft Office is the main software package used for all of its many features like Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook. Microsoft Outlook is the main system for e-mail, calendar reminders and personal information management. Some employees are given access to manage supervisor’s calendars and messaging services as well. This helps to keep managers and supervisors connected and on the same page and will send reminders out to prevent missed meetings. Word is used to create letters, documents and memos. Excel is used for spreadsheets that track research data and formula programs have been designed to upload billing information which streamlines the billing process by increasing speed of data entry and decreasing programmer error. Power Point is a useful tool in any training process from how to maneuver through EPIC, the system wide registration, scheduling and billing system to a physician giving a training session on the latest treatment methods. Other hospital software packages that enhance the group collaboration are Power Chart and MARS. Power Chart is the computerized patient charting system that physicians and nurses use to enter orders, results and note patient status reports for In-patients. Just one small example of how power chart enhances a patient hospital stay is when a physician orders blood work to be done and the order is entered through power chart that order is printed out in the lab office. When the phlebotomist is prepping to make her rounds on the patient floors he/she will have all of these orders that give the patient name, room number what tests need to be done, etc.
Healthcare professionals associated with medical billing and coding know the progress the technology has made so far. In the last few decades, medical billing and coding has switched from being a paper-based system to a computerized format. Under HIPAA laws, medical practitioners had to develop new software in order to send out electronic bills. With the advent of electronic medical records (EMR), with one touch of a button, doctors, Nurse Practitioners and PAs can gain access to all the care a patient has ever received from every healthcare facility the patients visited previously and can figure out possible illnesses. This enables statistical documentation of the population as a whole as well. EMR can also make the healthcare system more transparent and allow integration with reimbursement data. As the healthcare system changes, this will prevent unnecessary costs and make it easier to get the reimbursements needed to treat a patient.
When walking into a hospital, nursing home, or physician’s office, electronic devices are used everywhere. The doctors have pagers, drugs are released from an apparatus similar to vending machines, and the patients are connected to intravenous pumps and monitors, while they lay on beds that move with the touch of a button. Everything seems to be electronic, except for patient charts. A new system, called eHealth, was devised that would make these patient charts electronic. The goal for electronic health is to unite all healthcare by making patient records available to all providers in order to improve the quality of care patients receive. eHealth can be adopted into hospitals, physicians’ offices, and even ambulatory services. A 2006 study found, “Ambulatory EHRs improve the structure of care delivery, improve clinical processes, and enhance outcomes” (Shekelle 61). With professionals working together, procedures, scans, tests, and even visits to the hospital can be eliminated and in turn reduce the hospital’s expenses. However, this reduction may not add up to the investment the facilities will have to make. Adopting this system will cost more the some facilities are able to spend. However, investing in eHealth is a risk hospitals should take to improve patient care. eHealth has to become affordable to all providers for healthcare to reach its full potential.
34). One of the main opportunities for this change is that it will allow all the Nurse Clinicians to apply their extensive knowledge, skills, and judgment to better monitor and audit the documentation system. Each Clinician will also have the authority to address any identified issues or concerns directly with the staff, as opposed to handing this over to the APN. Furthermore, the Nurse Clinicians will ensure the data gleaned from the EHR and MDS accurately represents the care provided, and they will assist in translating the results of the MDS into practice to better enhance patient care. Additional opportunities for professional development could include developing educational material or developing and implementing unit quality improvement projects. A second opportunity is the chance to be a part of the new initiatives coming to the VC over the next few years. As the organization moves towards implementing more technology, such as electronic medication administration records and computerized provider order entry, the Clinicians will be able to provide their knowledge of organizational workflows to ensure a system will meet the needs of the staff. Additionally, the Clinicians can be a part of the implementation team to help educate and support the staff as they learn any new software. Finally, the benefits of a centralized model and
The purpose of confirming instructions and requirements for business travel and accommodation is to ensure that those travelling know exactly where they need to be, what they need to bring and when they need to be there. This helps to ensure they won’t miss any trains/planes/boats etc. by allowing time for travel. It also ensures that they don’t forget something important like a passport or a document needed for the meeting which could also cause delays and embarrassment. Telling them where they are accommodated lets them know what to expect when they are staying overnight, so they can manage there expectations around room quality and service appropriately.
The high flow rate of the Emergency Room causes the hospital staff to make clerical error in charting in CHS, costing the hospital lost revenue from uncharted captures of Class VIII and medications during procedures. Point-of-use cabinets are a solution that helps hospitals and its staff to increase charge captures and reduce nursing administrative time on CHS. The point-of-use cabinets require the user to input the patient’s name and identity to acquire mediation or Class VIII. According to Omnicell (N.D.) This point-of-use system can result in “45% increase in charge capture” of lost revenue from possible oversight when the charting is done after the patient being
“Office Space” is a comedy movie of a man who desperately hates his job and his boss. The movie begins with Peter Gibbon’s daily life story at Initech. At work, Peter has to deal with his indifferent boss, Bill Lumbergh, who doesn’t want to listen to his employee’s feedbacks. Lumbergh seems to be an ignorant and arrogant man who dictates his employee and doesn’t want to be blamed at all. Moreover, Lumbergh asks his employee to come to work on weekend. The atmosphere in the office is getting more intense after Lumbergh announced that Initech is bringing in consultants to increase the efficiency of the company. Peter was very frustrated with everything in the office and he felt that his life even more miserable with each passing day at work. The following day, he decided to come to see a hypnotherapist in order to help him to have more positive outlook on life. Before the hypnotherapist finishes his hypnotic therapy on Peter, he has a heart attack unexpectedly and then dies. However, Peter was still under the influence of hypnosis and fails to come back to his normal state. The next day, Peter sleeps all day long – he actually supposed to come to work – and ignores all calls from his boss. On Monday, Peter comes to the office to have an interview with the consultants. Here, still under the influence of hypnosis, Peter blatantly tells everything he felt about the company. He even tells the interviewers that he only stare at his desk – looks like he is working – for hours to spend his time at work. In the end of the interview, Peter says that actually he is not lazy, but he has a problem with motivation. Peter has eight different bosses who will come by if Peter makes mistakes, so the only motivation that Peter has is not to be hassle...
Telecommuting Telecommuting starts with the lower level of the working class workers but with the success it has had it’s rapidly moving towards the executive level. There are two forms of telecommuting the employers use today, one is home telecommuting which is a work arrangement the most people do this is working from home with a computer terminal utilizing today’s current technology by transmitting data and documents while working from home and maintaining a close contact with co-workers, managers, through the use of email, internet (instant messenger), and telephone and fax machines as well. Video conferencing using web cameras can also be an effective tool for telecommuting in order to help enhance the productivity of its employees and executives. The other form of telecommuting is center-based telecommuting that involves the use of office space close to home where employees work without direct supervision, commute travel is still reduced and some of the disadvantages of home offices are removed.
I was alloted time to explore this system and learn about my patient’s lab test results, psychosocial information, medication information, nurse work orders, and SBAR charts, etc. Epic allowed me to easily fill out my patient-care worksheet because of the copious amount of information readily available through this system. This accessibility coupled with the interdisciplinary communication aspect is utilized to make clinical
Electronic medical records not only effect health care professionals, but the patients of those health care providers as well. However, nurses spend the most time directly using electronic medical records to access patient date and chart. Nurses now learn to chart, record data, and interact with other health care providers electronically. Many assume that electronic means efficient, and the stories of many nurses both agree, and disagree. Myra Davis-Alston, a nurse from Las Vegas, NV, says that she “[likes] the immediate access to patient progress notes from all care providers, and the ability to review cumulative lab values and radiology reports” (Eisenberg, 2010, p. 9). This form of record keeping provides health care professionals with convenient access to patient notes, vital signs, and test results from multiple providers comprised into one central location. They also have the ability to make patients more involved in their own care (Ross, 2009). With the advancement in efficiency, also comes the reduction of costs by not printing countless paper records, and in turn, lowers health care
Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), is also known as Computerized Provider Order Management (CPOM). CPOE is a process of automated or electronic entry record of health care physician on different types of instructions on how to treat patients, especially patients that are hospitalized under a physician’s care. CPOE is one of the most remarkable system that is being used in the healthcare system to effectively reduce the amount of medication errors. The University of Health Care System might be in the process of rolling out the CPOE portion out of the EMR project, however, they did not do a thorough investigation on what CPOE is and whether or not it would have a positive impact on the EMR project. They should have not taken the step to start the project without already knowing the basics of CPOE. They might have had thought that since it is a computerized system everything would turn out okay and there would not be any problems. However, they fall short to recognize that the user’s knowledge and experience with using the CPOE system would have a significant influence on the effectiveness and productivity of the actual system.
There are a number of ways in which patient care can be improved with a facility that utilizes multiple charting systems. The simplest way to provide effective quality care is to implement the EHR. A EHR is an electronic system consisting of a complete patient medical health history of past and current conditions (Keller, 2016; Menachemi & Collum, 2011). In addition, to the patient’s demographic, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, allergies, laboratory data, immunizations, and test results. EHR decreases medical errors such as misinterpretation of clinical notes, doctors orders, not having access to paper chart that have yet to be filed or has been missed file (Keller, 2016). EHR also allows for quick and easy access to diagnostic test results and patient notes that are needed for patient care. EHR will significantly enhance patient care by reducing the amount of time it takes the healthcare team to retrieve the needed health information to deliver patient care. It will also dramatically reduce medical errors that are associated with the nursing staff manually entering doctors’
Teleconferencing gives a team the convenience of sharing information in real time. When meeting in this manner, team members are able to receive instant feedback. Other members can also listen to the tone and inflection of the member speaking. Telephone conferencing involves minimal cost but requires that team members be avail...
In today’s virtual society our office experience is getting more and more dependent on cyber culture. Due to the increase in employees working at home, virtual offices have become a convenient way for staff, clients, educators, students and all other types of business people to stay connected. Teleconferencing, skyping, e-mails, and texting have become mainstream ways of conducting business so it seems pertinent that businesses learn to effectively create and conduct virtual teams.
Data and information are integrated into each step of the nursing process: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. ("Nursing Excellence." Nursing Informatics 101. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.) Following this process, nursing informatics personnel can organize and set each file and record accordingly based on the care process. Since health care providers communicate primarily through the notes they write in a patient’s chart, nurse informaticists seek to continually improve the speed, timeliness and accuracy of patient charting. Working with the accurate information is key to nurses in all fields of the spectrum. It is beneficial to the health care providers that information is precise and up-to-date so the care will be more than sufficient. When health workers have access to more up-to-date, complete patient notes, they can make better decisions about a patient’s care and use the appropriate resources to better help the quality of the patient’s care doctors can
Computers are forever present in the workplace. Word processors-computer software packages that simplify the creational and modification of documents-have largely replaced the typewriter. Electronic mail has made it easy to send messages worldwide via computer communication networks. Office automation has become the term for linking workstations, printers, database system, and other tools by means of a local-area network. An eventual goal of office automation has been termed the 'paperless office.' Although such changes ultimately make office work much more efficient, they have not been without cost in terms of purchasing and frequently upgrading the necessary hardware and software and of training workers to use the new technology.