The VP and CIO of St. Luke’s University Health Network wants to ensure that IT is a partner with the business in enabling new health care delivery models while controlling rapidly increasing costs.... Show More

The VP and CIO of St. Luke’s University Health Network wants to ensure that IT is a partner with the business in enabling new health care delivery models while controlling rapidly increasing costs. They face the challenge of maintaining existing resources while keeping up with rapid advances in information technology that provide opportunities to transform health care delivery. The VP/CIO wants to insure that new applications are in line with the strategic objectives of the health network. Instituting appropriate project management and governance strategies are critical to achieving this goal as is educating the business users on the role of information systems in health care today.

The recent health care reform is one of the biggest changes that the health care industry has ever faced. This reform represents the paradigm changing opportunities and challenges for the company... Show More

The recent health care reform is one of the biggest changes that the health care industry has ever faced. This reform represents the paradigm changing opportunities and challenges for the company providing health insurance in a managed care environment. The CIO of a premier managed care health insurance provider (“ABC Company”) wants to take advantage of the new environment using Information Technology. He and his management teams have determined, using primary research, that the customer perception of the health care company’s cost and accessibility to the quality health care are the most important factors to their customers in the new market. They are aware that even though they have been able to use information technology to predict customer reaction to the changes in cost, and perception of quality, it will be very difficult to deliver new systems and processes that support ABC Company’s to the new realities it is facing the market.

The recent healthcare reform act provides incentive payments to providers for their ‘meaningful use’ of electronic health records to achieve significant improvements in care. The HITECH Act 2009... Show More

The recent healthcare reform act provides incentive payments to providers for their ‘meaningful use’ of electronic health records to achieve significant improvements in care. The HITECH Act 2009 provides incentives payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they achieve specified improvements in care delivery. Citrus Valley Health Partners’ (CVHP) goals are bigger than just to comply with the regulations or simply to qualify for incentives, but rather include transforming their business to the next level in care delivery. They are seeking cooperation from their affiliates to build a community health information exchange that will allow CVHP and the affiliates to share and integrate patient health related information between their medical centers and the private physicians in their community. The integrated system will help community healthcare providers to work as a single operating entity focused and aligned on improving patient care, operational efficiency and cost effectiveness.

The use of social media for health and wellness promotion is a relatively new concept. Nonetheless, several early adopting health plans and provider organizations have begun to design and pilot... Show More

The use of social media for health and wellness promotion is a relatively new concept. Nonetheless, several early adopting health plans and provider organizations have begun to design and pilot social and mobile media platforms to empower members to enhance self management of health and wellness goals. In this case study of a large health plan in Pennsylvania, the authors describe the design and execution of a member survey to identify some factors that are significantly associated with interest in adopting such technology platforms for obtaining health-related information and services. Analysis of relevant data from more than 4,000 responses indicates significant differences among important segments of the member population defined with respect to demographic factors, level of computer and social media usage, and frequency of engagement in specific online activities. They anticipate that these insights can assist health plans to develop and deploy targeted services and tools for health and wellness management.

True Health Care Organization (THC) was a national leading health care organization. Its CEO and the management team were concerned with the implications of multiple laws, aimed at improving health... Show More

True Health Care Organization (THC) was a national leading health care organization. Its CEO and the management team were concerned with the implications of multiple laws, aimed at improving health care in the United States, passed that impacted the health care insurance industry including the THC Company. The CEO and the management felt that the company faced many challenges as it looked for solutions to the requirements of the new laws. Their industry was going through an unprecedented change due to the new laws and a general consensus that health care should be improved. They had concluded that the solution to the new challenges faced by their company laid in implementing the new Information Technology systems. The CEO and management were acutely aware that it was not easy to implement these changes by implementing Information Technology systems. The challenges that they were concerned about included skillsets of their work force, the disjointed nature of their current information technology infrastructure and the urgency of implementing all the changes within a short period.