Topic: HIT interoperability and standards
1. The Health Information Technology (HIT) standards are developed both by national and international organizations for local and global implementation. In the US, the national organization is NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology) and the international organization is ISO (International Standards Organization).
Compare and contrast the functions of these two organizations and their healthcare IT standards. Analyze their standard development processes. Which type of healthcare organizations should implement their standards and why? Assess the value of the standards on the international market as well as implications for not adopting the HIT standards globally?
2. Health Information Technology increases both efficacy and quality of healthcare and aids in operational and strategic planning. Although it incurs initial implementation investment and then periodic recurring maintenance and updating costs, it does not generate direct revenue, but the healthcare managers need to justify these costs to the executive management.
Select two (2) methods or techniques that you would use to determine and justify the value of HIT. Evaluate both in terms of their pros and cons. Which of these two methods would you recommend to use for presentation to the management and why? Analyze how these two methods of HIT value determination differ from the traditional IT value determination for business?
