ICT501 – Foundations of IT

Assignment Task

Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to develop the student’s skills in designing an IT system

Part A:

It is estimated that some 250,000 to 440,000 people in the United States die every year from medical errors. This makes medical errors the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. Electronic health records (EHRs) and other technologies are intended to reduce errors and improve the delivery of care. However, some industry experts believe use of these tools is simply swapping one set of mistakes for another. For instance, EHR users are highly prone to forgetting to enter orders for patient tests and erroneously entering medication orders. Such errors can result in harm to patients. In some cases, the rush by doctors and hospitals to earn cash incentives under the HITECH Act has led to the adoption of complex and error-prone EHR systems. Implementation of poor EHR systems coupled with inadequate user training can leave patients just as vulnerable to medication errors as they were when health care providers used paper charts. “Patient safety is not improved by merely implementing health IT.

The technology is part of a larger sociotechnical system, which relies not only on hardware and software functionality but also people, workflow, and processes.” There have been cases of EHR software vendors exaggerating the quality of their systems. For example, The Department of Justice contends that software vendor eClinicalWorks falsely obtained certification of its EHR product. Charges include allegedly cheating the “meaningful use” certification test, failing to make critical updates and bug fixes, and not ensuring data portability to enable doctors to transfer patient data to other vendor’s EHR systems.

1. Do you believe the EHR systems should be classified as safety-critical systems? Why or why not?

2. Explain how measures could be implemented in the software to reduce the likelihood of forgetting to enter patient tests. What software logic could be introduced to reduce the potential that the wrong medications are prescribed for the patient?

3. What measures should be taken to ensure a more rigorous EHR software certification process?

Part B:

Architectural Firms looks at Software as a Service. You are a financial analyst for a mid-size architectural firm with some 100 employees located in three cities across the United States. The firm consistently earns over $30 million in annual revenue by providing engineering and design services that cover a variety of structures and systems, from building brand new facilities to renovating and rehabilitating those that already exist. It specializes in providing exceptional design services for HVAC, electrical, piping, fire protection, and lighting systems. The firm currently has a perpetual license for state-of-the-art computer-aided design and drafting software for its 50 architects and engineers at a cost of $6,000 for each copy. The software is periodically in need of software patches to fix bugs and/or security issues.

These are provided at no additional cost. However, there is a $400/year charge per user for technical support. Patches are centrally managed and applied each quarter to all copies by a member of the firm’s IT staff. This typically requires that an IT support person spend about 1 hour with each user and their computer. The software manufacturer provides a major new release every three years at an upgrade cost of $4,000. You have been asked to evaluate the advisability of moving to a software as a service solution and paying a monthly fee $300 per user that includes all technical support, software support, and upgrades to new releases.

1. What are the costs over a six-year period associated with the current arrangement? What would be the costs with the software as a service solution?

2. What potential problems are associated with the software as a service approach?

3. Would you recommend that the firm move from the current arrangement to a software as a service approach? Why or why not?

This ICT501 - IT Computer Science Assignment Help has been solved by our IT Computer Science Experts at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.