Episode #70: Health Information Technology: Measuring and Monitoring the Impact on Clinical Practice and Patient Outcomes with Nancy Beale

Episode #70: Health Information Technology: Measuring and Monitoring the Impact on Clinical Practice and Patient Outcomes with Nancy Beale

Introduction to the Episode: 

In this episode we interview Nancy Beale.  Nancy is a business owner and a nationally recognized and award-winning nurse leader in health information technology (HIT) with a broad span of HIT experience across the healthcare industry.    

At the start of the interview Nancy shares her greater purpose for the adoption of technologies that have a positive impact on clinical practice and patient outcomes, and why that is the driver behind her work and her research.     

Nancy points out there are varying levels of adoption of technology.  She also notes healthcare leaders spend a lot of time, money and human resource efforts on the tools that they think will address quality, safety, efficiency, and satisfaction but they aren’t checking to see if those tools have addressed the issues.  They just keep going without knowing if what they’ve implemented is working!   

After substantial investments, a lot of times leaders find some new technologies aren’t being used or in some cases workarounds have been developed that defeat the purpose of  the technology that was implemented.  Another point Nancy makes based on her observations is after an organization does an initial evaluation, it’s often not carried out on an ongoing basis or against a measurable standard.   

Nancy’s primary interest is in making sure technologies enhance the care and outcomes for healthcare organizations and patients. During the interview we explore the positive outcomes she’s observed as a result of collaboration amongst clinical practice stakeholders and HIT stakeholders. 

In the interview Nancy also conveys some of the negative consequences experienced when there is an over-focus on clinical practice to the neglect of technology best practices. 

“You can’t monitor what you don’t measure.” says Nancy.   

If leaders begin to measure and monitor technology use and adoption more regularly they will identify potential opportunities to improve, which leads to a greater awareness of gaps and opportunities for improvements in system design and configuration.  

Nancy notes, regardless of the technology or domain, it’s important to keep the same  fundamental principles in mind regarding what data is being collected, the necessity of the data collection, and the use of standards. 

While discussing the role of innovation in HIT Nancy points out how important it is to let go of what you know and be open to usher in innovation.  

We could tell you this is an informative and interesting interview, but you’ll realize that when you listen!  



During this episode we discuss:

·         Clinician burden of the electronic health record (EHR)

·         COVID-19 impact on technology utilization

·         Collecting data pre COVID-19 and post COVID-19

·         Burden of health information technology (HIT) on other healthcare clinicians

·         Integrated technology systems that hold promise for reducing clinical burden

·         Success factors for innovative partnerships

·         Teaching clinicians how to engage with the technology and the patient

·         Role models for patient engagement via technology

·         Influence of clinical workloads and stressful situations

·         New technologies on the horizon

 

Find Nancy at: 



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Tracy Christopherson