Clinical and Administrative Systems Integration

This unit examines the clinical, administrative, and infrastructure systems that support health informatics — including radiology/PACS, laboratory, pharmacy, clinical decision support, practice management, billing/payroll, and communications platforms. Students learn interoperability, deployment, security, and clinician-centered considerations to select, integrate, and support these systems, building on foundational concepts from earlier units and preparing learners for implementation and evaluation tasks in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the functionality and interoperability requirements of major clinical systems (radiology/PACS, laboratory, pharmacy, CDSS, registries, ED, cardiology) and map required data flows and interfaces with EHRs and third-party drug/toxicology databases
• Evaluate administrative and financial systems (practice management, accounting, payroll, payer portals) and apply selection criteria to justify hosted versus local solutions and remote access strategies for specific clinical workflows
• Demonstrate strategies to secure and streamline user access by explaining single sign-on, authentication, server options, and remote access controls that protect patient data while supporting clinician workflow
• Apply clinician-centered design and safety principles to assess point-of-care devices, encounter forms, prescription labels, communication tools (email/phone), and clinical decision support to optimize usability, patient safety, and ongoing staff education