Assignment Task:
Case Study Flo Tech, the health information manager at Upstate University Medical Center, faces a critical challenge in moving her department into the twenty-first century of health care services. A new telemedicine program has been developed so that rural hospitals can use university specialists as consultants without the patient being transferred. The system transmits digital signals over a wide-band fiberoptic network, permitting synchronized data and image interactivity. The "record" that results from the interchange includes both a videotape of the interaction between the medical consultant and the on-site health care provider and relevant clinical information extracted from the patient's electronic medical record. The chief executive officer has asked the health information manager to determine how many additional full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, if any, are to manage these records.
Questions: Identify the type of information needed to determine how this new technology will affect current staffing patterns in the department.
To use in recruiting and retraining, list the skills, knowledge, and other job specifications needed in the staff that will maintain these types of records.
Evaluate the above. If financial or other constraints preclude adding new staff at this time, what steps should be taken to handle the additional workload?