Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/healthcare-it-operations-patient-safety
In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the role of Information Technology is paramount. The Coursera course, ‘Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff,’ offers a comprehensive deep dive into the critical technologies and operational procedures that underpin modern healthcare systems. This course is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to excel in Health IT support.
The syllabus is thoughtfully structured, beginning with an exploration of ‘Telemedicine, Patient Portals, and Medical Devices.’ This module demystifies key technologies like telemedicine (covering asynchronous, synchronous, and remote patient monitoring) and patient portals. It even includes real-world insights from a Director of Telemedicine on rapid implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crucially, it addresses the IT support aspect, showcasing how to assist patients and caregivers with these tools, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at medical device installation, introducing essential networking concepts like IP addresses, MAC addresses, LAN, and WLAN.
Next, the course delves into ‘Operational Needs in Health IT.’ This section tackles the realities of troubleshooting network outages, command center dashboard issues, and even patient safety concerns stemming from infrastructure problems. It highlights the importance of self-service tickets, priority levels, tiered support, and available help desk resources. The practical demonstrations of submitting tickets and understanding when not to use them are particularly helpful. The course emphasizes the foundational elements of IT support, such as gathering caller information, identifying problem origins, differentiating software from hardware issues, and the significance of teamwork, communication, and documentation when escalation is needed. It also covers the vital roles of patient wristbands, barcode scanning, and the systematic troubleshooting of printer issues in healthcare settings.
The ‘JIRA and Documentation’ module introduces participants to the JIRA process for managing changes in Health IT, detailing ticket components and resolution paths. It underscores the necessity of clear documentation, especially during scheduled and unscheduled downtimes, and even shares a challenging real-world ticket scenario.
Finally, the course culminates with ‘Health IT and Patient Safety.’ This module focuses on the concept of high-reliability organizations in healthcare and the direct impact of Health IT on patient safety. It thoroughly explains the importance of checklists and defines critical terms like medication errors, near misses, and sentinel events.
Overall, ‘Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff’ is a robust and practical course. It equips IT professionals with the knowledge and skills to not only maintain smooth operations but also to actively contribute to a safer patient environment. I highly recommend this course to any aspiring or current Health IT professional.
Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/healthcare-it-operations-patient-safety