Research paperHealth information systems

HIM 515 Topic 6 Standards and Health Care Applications and Operations

Describing two standards is straightforward. The brief asks what they do to operations, which means naming the work they create and the work they remove.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Operational impact means naming the work a standard creates

Two words in the brief set the level of the paper: functional health care operations. That rules out a description of what each standard specifies and asks instead what changes in a working department because the standard exists. Every standard both creates and removes work, and saying which is which for each of your two choices is the analysis. A messaging or exchange standard removes the work of building a bespoke interface for every partner and creates the work of mapping local fields into it. A patient identifier standard removes duplicate record reconciliation downstream and creates registration-time verification work at the front desk. An accreditation standard creates documentation and audit preparation and removes some payer-specific reporting because compliance is recognised. Naming both sides for each standard is what turns a description into the evaluation the brief asks for. Each of those pairs is a real trade a department makes.

Choosing two standards from different chapters is also an opportunity rather than a constraint, since the strongest papers pick a pair that interact. A coding standard and an accreditation standard meet in the medical record, where the same documentation serves reimbursement and quality review, and a clinician's note that is adequate for one may be inadequate for the other. An exchange standard and a privacy standard meet at the moment data leaves the organisation, where the technical capacity to send and the legal permission to send are different questions with different owners. Building the paper around one of those intersections gives you something to evaluate, which is what the brief's word impact actually asks for, and it makes the contextualising examples it offers, electronic record implementation, coding requirements and ethical reporting, easy to bring in. Those examples then have somewhere to attach rather than sitting in the paper as decoration.

Likely learning objectives

Assess a standard by the work it creates and removes.
Choose two standards whose effects intersect.
Locate the intersection in a specific operational process.
Distinguish technical capacity from legal permission.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: After completing this week’s readings from the textbook, select one set of standards from both Chapter 17 and Chapter 18. In a paper of 750-1,000 words, identify the sets of standards chosen and explain what the standards govern or the broad category in which they fit (for example, patient identifiers, accreditation, etc.). Evaluate how the two sets of standards impact health care systems and informatics applications, and assess these standards in relation to functional health care operations. To help you frame your arguments, consider implementation of electronic health records (EHR), regulations guiding the coding requirements, ethical reporting, or other broad topics related to application and operations. Discussion of these specific areas in your paper is not required, but it may assist in contextualizing your points. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. HIM 515 Topic 6 Standards and Health Care Applications and Operations One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What Topic 6 requires

01A 750-1,000 word paper in APA style with no abstract.
02Identification of one set of standards from Chapter 17 and one from Chapter 18.
03An explanation of what each set governs, or the broad category it fits.
04An evaluation of how the two sets impact health care systems and informatics applications.
05An assessment of these standards in relation to functional health care operations.
06Submission to Turnitin.