The capstone course provides an opportunity for you to do an environmental scan report focusing specifically on emerging issues and trends in the field of health information management (HIM) and a chance for you to integrate your studies and apply your knowledge to the problems and issues facing the HIM profession. Environmental scan reports are a natural fit for health information management professionals. If you are already working in healthcare, you may have experience in researching information and supporting others by gathering data for environmental scan reports.
In this task, you will develop an environmental scan report by first selecting a topic from one of the listed domains. This topic may be an emerging issue or trend at your workplace or a new issue or trend you may have learned is taking place in the profession. Next, you will expand your topic by developing a list of professional sources that will allow you to discuss your topic. Then, you will analyze how your topic has evolved and affected the field of HIM by describing the healthcare setting and the key stakeholders involved. You will also discuss challenges and how they can be resolved as well as your personal experience with the topic. Finally, you will research an organization that has been affected by your topic and provide your perspective as to how that organization handled the issue or trend.
A. Create a health information management (HIM) environmental scan report by doing the following:
1. Select an emerging issue or trend in the field of HIM to investigate from one of the following HIM domains:
• domain I: data structure, content, and information governance
• domain II: information protection—access, disclosure, archival, privacy, and security
• domain III: informatics, analytics, and data use
• domain IV: revenue cycle management
• domain V: health law and compliance
• domain VI: organizational management and leadership
2. Explain why you chose to investigate the issue or trend from part A1.
3. Analyze 5–7 professional sources (e.g., professional interviews, peer-reviewed HIM journals, literature, articles, professional organizations or associations) that are relevant and aligned to the chosen issue or trend from part A1.
Note: Your submission should include a variety of different professional sources. The sources selected should not all come from the same type of sources (e.g., all personal interviews or all articles).
4. Analyze your chosen issue or trend from part A1 by doing the following:
a. Explain how your issue or trend evolved within the field of HIM.
b. Describe the healthcare setting of your issue or trend.
i. Explain how your issue or trend influences HIM in the chosen healthcare setting described in part A4b.
c. Discuss the roles of key stakeholders involved in the issue or trend.
d. Explain how the issue or trend affects the field of HIM.
e. Discuss two challenges related to the issue or trend in the field of HIM.
i. Discuss how each challenge from part A4e could be resolved.
5. Describe an experience you have had or could obtain related to the chosen issue or trend from part A1.
Note: If you have not had any related experience, then explain how you could get experience.
6. Research an organization that has been affected by your chosen issue or trend from part A1, then do the following:
a. Explain the impact of the issue or trend on the organization you researched.
b. Describe your perspective on how the organization handled the issue or trend.
i. Justify your position on the organization’s handling or mishandling of the issue or trend.
B. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
C. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. The similarity report that is provided when you submit your task can be used as a guide.
