Running head: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION 1

Information Management and Application

Of Patient Care Technology

Anne Waskiewicz

Frostburg State University

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND
APPLICATION 2

Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology

Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology for a

baccalaureate nurse requires the use and competency in current technology (computer system,

information systems, standard terminology). Essential IV (The Essentials of Baccalaureate

Education for Professional Nursing Practice, 2008) provides the necessary tools to help the nurse

navigate through the information highway and apply it to daily practice.

Technological Innovation Project:

The project is locating the correct MDICs physician/nurse practitioner after the patient

leaves the Emergency Department (ED) and is admitted to a unit in the hospital. EPIC is the

system used in the hospital. When the patient is registered and admitted from the ED, the

accepting physicians name is entered in the patients chart. The complication occurs after the

patient leaves the ED. The physician from the MDICs team may change once the patient is

admitted to a unit. Currently, the nurse on the unit calls the operator to have the MDICs

physician paged and hopes that it is the correct physician. If it is not the correct physician, the

physician who was paged will transfer the message to the correct physician or the nurse will call

the operator and the operator will page the entire MDICs team on duty for the day. The other

option, if it is after 8 a.m. on the following day of admission, the charge nurse can contact the

care management team, who receives a daily copy of all MDICs patient assignments, and page

the appropriate physician. The results usually include time delays and frustration for all parties.

Using EPIC, the MDICs physician can document in the electronic health record (EHR) with the

current physician/nurse practitioner every time there is a change.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND
APPLICATION 3

Explanation how Technological Innovation Project Relates to Essential IV

The project relates to Essential IV because we can use the current technology in EPIC.

The nurse will participate with the nursing informatics team to develop a solution to the above

problem. Integration of the proposed change will enhance interprofessional communications

between the physician, nurse, care management team and other ancillary service providers. A

workflow of the current process and a workflow of the improved workflow for physician

identification will be developed and presented to the MDICs physician and medical board for

recommendations and approval before implementation.

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APPLICATION 4

REFERENCES

The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (2 ed.). (2008).

Washington, D.C.: American Association of Colleges of Nursing.