D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
KC
Student ID #XXXXXX
AUG 7, 2025
D516: Healthcare Information Technology
Task 3: HIT Strategic Plan
D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
, D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
A: New EHRS:
Population health strategies: The new EHRS will address population health concerns to
support Paducah Health Medical System’s (PHMS) goal to provide quality, value-based care for
the communities that it serves. Presently, the population that is served by PHMS has high rates of
infectious and chronic diseases, specifically diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease (Western
Governors University, n.d.). An IT solution is needed to address these issues, improve
community health outcomes, and decrease costs.
The EHRS will incorporate strategic attributes to include person-centered,
comprehensive, accessible, coordinated, and committed to quality and safety (Shaljian &
Nielsen, 2013). A person-centered EHRS ensures that all members of the patient’s care team are
able to capture patient data to reflect their needs, history, care plans, and additional information
that helps to meet their needs, such as language, culture, or family concerns. A medical record
that fully captures the patient’s conditions and considerations allows for better-informed
decision-making.
A comprehensive record supports the responsible providers to care for the patient’s
physical and mental needs that includes maintaining wellness, prevention, acute and chronic care
(Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). EHRS strategies are the use of robust data analytics tools that track
and report on patient outcomes and identify gaps in care that would otherwise have been missed
with potentially harmful results. The EHRS will generate automated outreach sent to the patients
identified for care recommendations, with notifications also sent to the providers regarding
patients with gaps in care, or who have failed to fill prescriptions, missed appointments, or other
scheduled and necessary services.
1
, D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
The EHRS will ensure a high degree of accessibility by providing patients with patient
portals and mobile applications to allow for online appointment scheduling and messaging
services with providers (Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). Additionally, alternate appointments via
telehealth or e-mail consultations with providers and support staff (nurses, pharmacists,
dieticians, etc.) offered through the new system will remove barriers to care for many of the low-
income patients in the rural areas that PHMS serves (Western Governors University, n.d.).
Coordinated care will support continuity of care across the health system by EHRS alerts
to providers when a patient has been admitted or discharged from a PHMS facility (Shaljian &
Nielsen, 2013). In the PHMS family are two hospitals, nursing homes, and a long-term care
facility (Western Governors University, n.d.); if providers know when patients are admitted or
discharged, they can track patients to ensure that they aren’t lost to appropriate and timely
follow-up care.
Finally, the EHRS will address population health strategies through a commitment to
quality and safety (Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). It will use clinical decision support (CDS) tools to
assist providers at the point of care and population health management tools that stratify patients
by risk level to determine the care they require to best meet their healthcare needs.
By incorporating these strategies to identify gaps in care, stratify risks, engage patients,
manage care, and measure outcomes (Institute for Health Technology Transformation, n.d.),
PHMS will be well supported in their population health management goals to meet the needs of
their communities, improve the quality of care given with a focus on preventative care, and
lower the costs of care.
2
D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
KC
Student ID #XXXXXX
AUG 7, 2025
D516: Healthcare Information Technology
Task 3: HIT Strategic Plan
D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
, D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
A: New EHRS:
Population health strategies: The new EHRS will address population health concerns to
support Paducah Health Medical System’s (PHMS) goal to provide quality, value-based care for
the communities that it serves. Presently, the population that is served by PHMS has high rates of
infectious and chronic diseases, specifically diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease (Western
Governors University, n.d.). An IT solution is needed to address these issues, improve
community health outcomes, and decrease costs.
The EHRS will incorporate strategic attributes to include person-centered,
comprehensive, accessible, coordinated, and committed to quality and safety (Shaljian &
Nielsen, 2013). A person-centered EHRS ensures that all members of the patient’s care team are
able to capture patient data to reflect their needs, history, care plans, and additional information
that helps to meet their needs, such as language, culture, or family concerns. A medical record
that fully captures the patient’s conditions and considerations allows for better-informed
decision-making.
A comprehensive record supports the responsible providers to care for the patient’s
physical and mental needs that includes maintaining wellness, prevention, acute and chronic care
(Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). EHRS strategies are the use of robust data analytics tools that track
and report on patient outcomes and identify gaps in care that would otherwise have been missed
with potentially harmful results. The EHRS will generate automated outreach sent to the patients
identified for care recommendations, with notifications also sent to the providers regarding
patients with gaps in care, or who have failed to fill prescriptions, missed appointments, or other
scheduled and necessary services.
1
, D516 Western Governors University Task 3 Healthcare Information Technology Strategic Plan KC
The EHRS will ensure a high degree of accessibility by providing patients with patient
portals and mobile applications to allow for online appointment scheduling and messaging
services with providers (Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). Additionally, alternate appointments via
telehealth or e-mail consultations with providers and support staff (nurses, pharmacists,
dieticians, etc.) offered through the new system will remove barriers to care for many of the low-
income patients in the rural areas that PHMS serves (Western Governors University, n.d.).
Coordinated care will support continuity of care across the health system by EHRS alerts
to providers when a patient has been admitted or discharged from a PHMS facility (Shaljian &
Nielsen, 2013). In the PHMS family are two hospitals, nursing homes, and a long-term care
facility (Western Governors University, n.d.); if providers know when patients are admitted or
discharged, they can track patients to ensure that they aren’t lost to appropriate and timely
follow-up care.
Finally, the EHRS will address population health strategies through a commitment to
quality and safety (Shaljian & Nielsen, 2013). It will use clinical decision support (CDS) tools to
assist providers at the point of care and population health management tools that stratify patients
by risk level to determine the care they require to best meet their healthcare needs.
By incorporating these strategies to identify gaps in care, stratify risks, engage patients,
manage care, and measure outcomes (Institute for Health Technology Transformation, n.d.),
PHMS will be well supported in their population health management goals to meet the needs of
their communities, improve the quality of care given with a focus on preventative care, and
lower the costs of care.
2
