Query Tuning in Oracle Database, Research Paper Example

Best strategy for security of electronic patient information                                                        

Electronic patient information technology is an important innovation that facilitates delivery of better cares for patients in a health care institution (National Academies Press, 2001).  Electronic patient information is a resourceful tool to clinicians in providing quality health care to patients. In order to ensure great improvement in health care sector, the embracing of electronic patient information technology must work together with the execution of a strong care model together with firm enhancement techniques by clinicians and other staff. The achievement of this goal calls for the adoption of best strategy for a health care organization to enhance the security of electronic patient information. It is important to appreciate the fact that, sharing of electronic patient information is associated with an escalation of risks that are associated security breaches and this therefore must be part of the needed regulations (World Health Organization, 2008).

How the solution would be affected by the system life cycle

Database systems are components that work in interaction or independently towards creation of multipart whole or an assortment of components and relationships that are exclusively divergent from the ones between varieties of elements (Alhadi & Ahmad, 2012). A relationship between systems life cycle and database systems exists on account of the fact that, database systems have a distinctive beginning as well as an end. Additionally, database systems are sets of tasks or components that are interrelated with the objective of solving a specific problem on the basis of set of processes that are elaborately defined (Tarride, 2006).

The significance of integration of systems life cycle in any plan in the database system is based on appreciation that the systems lifecycle is a composite of diverse processes. The ultimate goal involves creation of a database with sound features of functionality along with the potentials to address the needs of the client (Lundteigen, Rausand, & Utne, 2009). Arrangement of individual processes determines what type of a lifecycle will result. Therefore, development of a database requires a careful consideration of the order of arrangement of processes in order to meet the anticipated efficiency as well as the ability to function as expected (Fairfield, 2004). The significance of systems life cycle in database systems involves the potentialities of accommodating some properties that will enhance the efficiency and functionality of the database.

Application of project management concepts

The application of project management principles to implement an electronic medical records system known as EMR SYSTEM is instrumental in determining what steps are required to facilitate an effective response and an opportunity to examine the different aspects of how the system will be most successful within the current organizational structure. It is necessary to evaluate the conditions under which employees able to contribute and perform at a high level and to be effective as they move forward with the chosen system. System integration needs must be determined by the overall development and focus on growth and change, along with a means of understanding what is required to fully implement a new system with the resources that are available. Cost efficiency must be considered, along with other factors that impact the overall development and framework of the chosen strategy.

Needs for system integration

The creation of the EMR System requires a high level of focus and a connection to the process that will positively impact the organization and its key stakeholders. The system must be capable of managing a new system by using the resources that are present, along with the recruitment of expertise in the field to implement the system without difficulty. A knowledgeable and successful team leader must be in place who will serve as a catalyst for this project and provide expertise and guidance in moving forward with the chosen strategy as efficiently as possible (Guerrero, 2012). The leader must be able to direct all facets of the project and demonstrate his or her skills at this level and in supporting a high level of cohesiveness to support the system implementation as seamlessly as possible.

A successful integration will also reflect a high degree of support and knowledge for the organization’s overall strengths and abilities in promoting successful change and progress at the highest possible level. There must be a greater focus on creating an environment where change is necessary and also poignant for the organization as it moves forward to create new ideas and challenges for successful results. At this level, all equipment must be appropriate and must match the specifications required for the system in order to achieve the desired results during implementation; therefore, server and hardware requirements must be thoroughly evaluated so that they are able to handle the system’s capacity effectively (Guerrero, 2012). All technical capabilities must be evaluated well in advance of implementation in order to promote a smoother transition for the project and to maximize the role of the leadership team in making the transition smooth for employees (Guerrero, 2012).

Another skill that is required for a successful implementation is communication, as this must be supported by a framework whereby leaders and employees openly share ideas and reflect upon the needs of the project, one step at a time (HRSA, 2015). This process is instrumental because it reflects a greater focus on how employees will respond to the system and to determine how their own ability to adjust to the project implementation will play a positive role as it moves forward. This is not a simple task to achieve and requires an organization to examine its core strengths and abilities to successfully make a difference in how employees respond to the change so that it is able to be successful. Communication is likely to ease this transition to some degree and to enable employees to share their ideas and any frustrations that they might have regarding the implementation.

The project must also reflect a greater focus on developing a supportive and cohesive learning climate within the organization. This is an important step in the discovery of new ideas and approaches to manage the process and to determine what steps are required to achieve a supportive and meaningful environment to enhance the system implementation as best as possible. A successful transition to the EMR system requires the organization as a whole to set aside any reservations that exist and to take the steps that are required to facilitate a successful transition through the efforts that are made. Employees and leaders must have a shared vision and support an environment where change is possible and is encouraged by the group as it moves forward with the process.

Project resource needs

An EMR implementation requires many skills and resources in order to effectively promote opportunities for growth that will facilitate change and progress, while also demonstrating an organization’s ability to be successful with the change and how it will impact overall outcomes. This process requires an organized and communicative response from the leadership team and an ability to reflect upon the needs of the patient population so as not to disrupt quality of care. Project managers must be aware of the issues and aim to be as proactive as possible in order to achieve a smooth transition that will have a lasting and meaningful impact on the organization as a whole.

Process for selecting the new system

New RFP system process in an organization is associated with excitement and thus its success depends on effective use of creative thinking as well as workflow design. Its implementation demands that different people perform their duties differently and thus a comprehensive understanding of user requirements for the current as well as the future processes is an important consideration. This is considered prior and after the installation of the system. Lack of comprehensive information for the user requirements leads to the failure of functional best-fit in the entire system of RFP (Escalle, Cotteleer & Austin, 1999).  The complex systems therefore require digging deep in to sufficient details or a consideration of the processes that are peculiar for a specific business. In this regard, some strategies are considered to be critical for the RFP development process.

Strategies for RFP development process

Owing to the fact that Request for proposal RFPs are complicated to create, the only option available is to let the software vendors to create the entire system an approach that compromises the evaluation criteria from the inception. Healthcare bodies should take the clot to create RFPs that bear an accurate standard of the requirements averting any biased evaluation of the desired proposals (O’Leary, 2000). If RFPs are created duly considering additional attention and reviewing process then the outcome can be time saving and the solution would best meet the required business needs.

Healthcare institutions that are well aware of the need to invest in the RFP process can leap significant benefits since they get into a position to steer up organizational momentum and comfortably forge forward the development and implementation phases of the project. More often, solution vendors offers RFP responses to ensure selection, unfortunately the implemented solution may be deficient of vital functional components contained within the RFP, thus it is worth to evaluate the ultimate solution specifications and implementation against the RFP to ascertain it meets all requirements (Frédéric & David, 2004). In the advent of any variations in the RFP, vendors should be pushed further to ensure that they provide a final solution that addresses the agreed specifications.

It is important to integrate best practices in order to obtain maximum value from the RFP process, thus healthcare institutions should ensure that they refine their process alongside the practices. It is prudent to engage all appropriate stakeholders, since many organizations attempts to minimize the number of stakeholders in the deliberation process of an RFP in order to avert lengthy deliberation protocols so as to quickly navigate the process. Following this route yields to long term consequences especially during stages of selection and implementation, thus it is best to incorporate representation from all stakeholder.

RFP issue is more of a process than an event demanding adequate time in the implementation process. Due to lack of time, concentration and money constraints, organizations tend to rush through the RFP process to surmount the implementation phase of the project by requesting vendors to provide say into the creation of the RFP. The final document is likely to omit vital requirements and needs the end user may need and also the request is no longer an un-biased representation of needs (O’Leary, 2000).

Software vendors play a critical role in a successful RFP process, thus they should be held accountable to their responses. IT organizations must guarantee that the appropriate professional boundaries to ensure that defined RFP document is not unjustifiably influenced and vendors’ responses are accurate and implementable.  The determining factor towards accurately meeting this practice is dependent upon accurate responses to the RFP document (O’Leary, 2000).

The process of RFP may sometimes prove to be a necessary evil in the organization with insignificant value. To avoid such a scenario, it is prudent that all stakeholders are adequately engaged in the process of implementation. The vendors must also be held to account for their contribution and ample time must be spent in RFP process if the intended objectives and benefits are to be achieved and the risk of failing to meet expected results minimized.

Plan for end user training

Focusing on end user capability requirements is the fundamental reason behind selecting a vendor and developing a solution, thus it is worth to bear in mind that the capability requirements suggested provides the end users with technical capabilities that address a business issue. Many institutions endeavor to develop an outline that is used for every technology attainment. In this scenario the theory of one size fit all does not apply and since technical specifications are critical to the IT department, the RFP should focus primarily on evaluating business capabilities provided by the solution

Implementation and after-implementation considerations

The implementation strategy adopted depends on individual organization based on their goals, timeframes and requirements. In a nutshell however, majority of organizations adopt two types of implementation strategies. They entail ‘the big bang’ strategy of implementation and the ‘phased-roll out’ approach (Guerrero, 2012). The use of ‘the big bang’ involves a single big action during implementation with all the system users being forced to shift to a new system within a given period of time in the course of implementation. Some of the users are usually hurt by this strategy.

The ‘phased-roll out’ approach on the other hand entails small changes being executed over a prolonged time duration and involves a prearranged plan of sequential steps that facilitating for adequate transition from the old system to the new one. This can easily be achieved through module, business unit or geographically in case the organization has multiple locations.

Importance of system documentation

Keeping the documentations of a system up-to-date is associated with some benefits. This facilitates avoidance of crucial errors in the system. Preservation of the system history is also made possible during diverse stages of the system lifecycle such that the users and maintainers have an easy time. The role of updating the documentation is reserved for the maintainers. Through documentation, people who are unfamiliar with system functionality and structure are taught the design motifs of the system. Software interpretation is also facilitated by documentation. On successful investment of along with efforts, documentation is effectively applied with no effect on the process. However, a problem might arise when particular problems that are associated with system design are encountered and a guide is not available. This is as difficult as trespassing through the jungle with no compass or map, which only translates to loss of time and money (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2015). Although documentation is an intensive process particularly when handling a complex system and on large scale, the benefits derived after successful execution are worth the task after all.

The ongoing system maintenance requirements

The processes of verification, testing as well as implementation of a system have been accomplished, the nest most important process involves maintenance of the process to facilitate effective and uninterrupted performance thus allowing the system to adapt to any upcoming requirements as the need may arise (Guerrero, 2012). This process might sometimes call for systematization to facilitate easy identification of the needs for maintenance. Some scenarios of the system are anticipated to meet extended application which thence requires a suitable mechanism that is able to monitor any feedback coming from the users so as to identify the requirements for maintenance as well as modification. The routine of maintenance is determined to a large extent by complexity of applicable technology in a particular system. Majority of the items in a system are associated strict maintenance schedules and recommended maintenance schedules as specified by the vendor and it is a part of the agreement made at purchase. In some cases of maintenance and upgrade, some modifications are made to the hardware, the software as well as communication which subsequently necessitate additional verification along with testing to ascertain that updated specifications are met.

Causes of system implementation successes and failures

The pattern of the processes followed during implementation plays a crucial role in determining the success as well as the failure of a system (Guerrero, 2012). The failure of the system could be attributed to some factors that are out of the organization. Such factors include pressures associated with external environment that the company might not address unless it runs against the inherent characteristics of the business (Guerrero, 2012). However, majority of the cases involving system failure along with the outcomes of the implementation process are attributed to factors that arise from within the business.

Handling the successes and failures during implementation process

One of the most important considerations in this regard entails good planning that can be achieved superb forward planning. In this case, consider detailed planning during all the stages of implementation process, the timeliness of tasks, fall-back positions as well as re-planning.

Clear responsibility as well as team members’ accountability is also a worth course in handling the successes and failures during implementation process. All team members must be equipped with coherent comprehension of the roles as well as the duties that they are entitled to as well as their expectations visa-a- vis the measurable achievements (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2015). Scheduling of control is an equally crucial parameter in handling the successes and failures during implementation process

References

Alhadi, N., & Ahmad, K. (2012). Query tuning in oracle database. Journal of Computer Science, 8(11), 1889-1896.

Escalle, C., Cotteleer, M. & Austin, R., (1999). Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Report No 9-699-020, USA: MA, Harvard Business School, Cambridge/

Fairfield, J. (2004). Databases. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, 5(12), 407–409.

Frédéric, A, & David, S., (2004). The enterprise resource planning decade, p. 94, ISBN 978-1-59140-262-6

Guerrero, A. (2012). Planning a successful EMR project management strategy. Retrieved from

Guerrero, A. (2012). Planning a successful EMR project management strategy. Retrieved from

Lundteigen, A. M., Rausand, M., & Utne, B. I. (2009). Integrating RAMS engineering and management with the safety life cycle of IEC 61508. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 94(12), 1894–1903.

National Academies Press, (2001).Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Committee onQuality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine,

O’Leary, D. E., (2000). Enterprise resource planning systems: systems, life cycle, electronic commerce, and risk, Cambridge University Press.