Assignment Brief: HMIS Technology Failure Analysis Memo
Course: HSA 520 – Health Services Information Systems
Module/Week: Week 5
Assignment Type: Written Essay / Memo
Word Count: 1,050–1,400 words
Format: APA 7th Edition
Due Date: See Course Calendar
Submission: Blackboard / Canvas Assignment Portal
Module/Week: Week 5
Assignment Type: Written Essay / Memo
Word Count: 1,050–1,400 words
Format: APA 7th Edition
Due Date: See Course Calendar
Submission: Blackboard / Canvas Assignment Portal
Overview and Context
Healthcare organizations today operate within a digital ecosystem where Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) serve as the backbone of clinical operations, patient data management, and administrative workflows. The integrity, security, and reliability of these systems are not merely technical concerns; they directly affect patient safety, organizational reputation, regulatory compliance, and financial sustainability. Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented surge in healthcare cyberattacks, with ransomware incidents targeting hospitals, health plans, and clearinghouses at alarming rates. In February 2024, Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group that processes approximately 15 billion healthcare transactions annually, suffered what has been described as the most consequential cyberattack in U.S. healthcare history. The incident exposed the protected health information of 192.7 million individuals, disrupted claims processing nationwide, and generated response costs exceeding $2.87 billion. This assignment asks you to step into the role of an Information Officer at a large hospital and analyze a comparable HMIS failure or breach, producing a professional memo to hospital staff that demonstrates critical thinking, evidence-based analysis, and practical recommendations grounded in current regulatory frameworks.
Through this exercise, you will develop competencies in risk assessment, stakeholder communication, regulatory compliance, and preventive strategy formulation. The memo format requires you to synthesize complex technical and organizational information into clear, actionable communications suitable for a diverse healthcare workforce. Your analysis should draw upon peer-reviewed literature, government sources, and industry reports published between 2018 and 2026 to ensure currency and credibility.
Learning Objectives
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Analyze the multifaceted causes of HMIS technology failures and data breaches in healthcare settings
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Evaluate the operational, financial, and patient safety impacts of information system compromises
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Assess leadership responses to cybersecurity incidents and their adequacy in addressing stakeholder concerns
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Apply current government regulations and industry best practices to develop preventive strategies
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Compose professional healthcare communications that integrate evidence-based recommendations
Task Description
You are the Information Officer at a large hospital. It has been brought to your attention that there is a possibility a significant information technology failure or breach has occurred within your hospital. Using the Internet or the Strayer University library database, identify another health care organization or healthcare provider that has recently had a significant information technology failure or breach. You will need to create a news brief or memo to your staff letting them know about the failure or breach and how it has affected other organizations.
Assignment Requirements
Write a Health Management Information System (HMIS) Technology Failure Essay in the form of a news brief or memo for your staff in which you address the following:
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Key Contributing Factors. Outline four (4) key factors contributing to the HMIS failure or breach. These factors may include technical vulnerabilities, human error, organizational shortcomings, third-party risks, or regulatory gaps. Provide specific evidence for each factor drawn from the selected case study.
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Operational and Patient Impact Analysis. Analyze three (3) ways that the HMIS failure impacted both the organization’s operations and patient information protection, privacy, or personal safety. Consider clinical workflow disruptions, financial consequences, reputational damage, and direct risks to patient welfare.
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Leadership Response Diagnosis. Diagnose the leadership team’s reaction to the failure, and indicate whether or not you believe the leadership took sufficient measures to deal with various stakeholder groups impacted by the failure. Next, consider whether the organization had significant resources in place to prevent this occurrence and, if not, identify where most of the contributing failure occurred.
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Outcomes and Verdict Assessment. Suggest three (3) outcomes for the facility and express whether you agree with the overall verdict or violation. Outcomes may include regulatory penalties, civil litigation, operational changes, or industry-wide policy reforms.
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Best Practice Recommendations. Recommend at least three (3) best practices that your hospital can adopt to avoid such an HMIS failure or breach in the future. Provide support for each recommendation with evidence from current literature, regulatory guidance, or industry standards.
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Government Requirement. Provide one (1) current government requirement requiring all healthcare organizations to ensure that health care and patient information is secure and that information breaches and technology failures are minimized. This should reference a specific statute, regulation, or proposed rule with proper citation.
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Quality Resources. Use at least four (4) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as quality resources. Acceptable sources include peer-reviewed journals, government publications, industry white papers, and authoritative news outlets.
Formatting and Submission Guidelines
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Length: 1,050–1,400 words (approximately 4–5 pages, double-spaced)
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Format: APA 7th Edition, including title page, running head, page numbers, and reference list
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Font: Times New Roman, 12-point
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Margins: 1 inch on all sides
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Memo format: Include standard memo headings (TO, FROM, DATE, SUBJECT) at the beginning of the document, followed by the essay content
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Citations: In-text citations required for all factual claims, statistics, and direct quotations
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Reference list: Minimum of four quality sources, formatted in APA 7th Edition
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Submission: Upload as a Word document (.docx) to the course portal by the stated deadline
Grading Rubric
Table
| Criterion | Excellent (90–100%) | Proficient (80–89%) | Developing (70–79%) | Insufficient (Below 70%) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key Contributing Factors (20 points) | Four distinct, well-supported factors with specific evidence from the selected case; demonstrates deep analytical insight | Four factors identified with adequate support; analysis is sound but may lack depth in one area | Three or four factors listed with limited evidence; analysis is superficial or partially incomplete | Fewer than three factors or minimal evidence; analysis is unclear or unsupported | 20 |
| Operational and Patient Impact (20 points) | Three impacts thoroughly analyzed with clear connections to both operations and patient welfare; evidence is compelling | Three impacts analyzed with reasonable connections; some evidence provided but may lack specificity | Two or three impacts discussed with weak connections; evidence is sparse or generic | Fewer than two impacts or analysis is disconnected from operations and patient safety | 20 |
| Leadership Response Diagnosis (15 points) | Leadership response critically diagnosed with balanced assessment; stakeholder groups clearly identified; resource evaluation is thorough | Leadership response assessed with reasonable critique; most stakeholder groups addressed; resource evaluation is adequate | Leadership response described with limited critique; some stakeholder groups omitted; resource evaluation is weak | Leadership response merely summarized without critique; stakeholder groups ignored; no resource evaluation | 15 |
| Outcomes and Verdict (15 points) | Three outcomes proposed with clear reasoning; personal verdict is well-argued and evidence-based | Three outcomes proposed with adequate reasoning; verdict is supported but may lack depth | Two outcomes proposed or reasoning is weak; verdict is stated without sufficient justification | Fewer than two outcomes or no verdict expressed | 15 |
| Best Practice Recommendations (15 points) | Three recommendations are specific, actionable, and strongly supported by current literature or regulatory guidance | Three recommendations are reasonable with adequate support; may lack specificity in implementation | Two or three recommendations with weak support; suggestions are generic or poorly justified | Fewer than two recommendations or minimal support provided | 15 |
| Government Requirement (5 points) | Current requirement accurately identified and clearly explained with proper citation | Requirement identified with minor inaccuracies or citation issues | Requirement mentioned but poorly explained or incorrectly cited | No government requirement identified or requirement is outdated/incorrect | 5 |
| Writing Quality and APA Format (10 points) | Professional, clear, and error-free prose; APA formatting is flawless throughout | Generally clear prose with minor errors; APA formatting is mostly correct | Noticeable writing issues or APA errors that distract from content | Significant writing or formatting errors that impede comprehension | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
Sample Essay Excerpt: Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Analysis
Cyberattack Anatomy and Contributing Failures
The February 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare illustrates how a single point of technical failure can cascade into a sector-wide crisis. Investigators later determined that the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group exploited a Citrix portal that lacked multi-factor authentication, granting initial access that allowed lateral movement across interconnected systems. Jiang, Ross, and Bai (2025) found that ransomware attacks accounted for 69% of all patient records affected by healthcare data breaches in 2024, with Change Healthcare alone exposing the protected health information of 192.7 million individuals. The absence of MFA on an externally facing gateway represented a fundamental security gap that should have been addressed years earlier, particularly given the organization’s role as a central hub processing eligibility checks, prior authorizations, and claims for thousands of providers nationwide. Network segmentation was also inadequate; once inside, attackers moved freely between administrative and clinical processing environments rather than encountering isolated zones that would have contained the breach. Third-party risk management protocols failed to detect or remediate these vulnerabilities during routine audits, and the organization’s incident response capabilities proved insufficient to contain the intrusion before massive data exfiltration occurred.
Operational Disruption and Patient Safety Consequences
Beyond the staggering scale of data exposure, the Change Healthcare breach inflicted immediate operational paralysis across the U.S. healthcare system. Kanter, Rekowski, and Kannarkat (2024) documented how the shutdown of claims processing and payment systems forced hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies to revert to manual workflows, with some rural providers facing cash-flow crises that threatened their ability to purchase medications and pay staff. The attack disrupted prior authorization processes, delayed prescription fulfillment, and postponed elective procedures as providers struggled to verify coverage and secure reimbursement. From a patient safety perspective, these disruptions created risks that extended far beyond data privacy; individuals with chronic conditions faced interruptions in medication access, while emergency departments reported increased volumes as patients sought care at alternative facilities when their usual providers could not process insurance claims. The breach thus demonstrated that HMIS failures carry consequences that ripple through clinical care pathways in ways that traditional risk assessments often underestimate.
Leadership Accountability and Preventive Strategy
UnitedHealth Group’s leadership response drew mixed assessments from industry observers and regulators. The company took systems offline within hours of detection, engaged third-party forensic investigators, and eventually provided over $9 billion in advance payments to struggling providers. However, critics noted that the organization had failed to implement basic safeguards such as MFA despite its central position in the healthcare infrastructure, and that stakeholder communication during the first weeks was fragmented and insufficient. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights opened a compliance investigation, while congressional hearings scrutinized whether the company’s cybersecurity investments matched its operational scale. For hospitals seeking to avoid similar failures, the incident underscores three imperatives: first, mandate multi-factor authentication and zero-trust architecture across all access points; second, conduct vulnerability scans at least every six months and annual penetration testing as proposed in the updated HIPAA Security Rule; and third, maintain offline encrypted backups with tested recovery procedures that can restore critical systems within 72 hours. These measures align with the Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed Security Rule updates published in January 2025, which would eliminate the distinction between “required” and “addressable” safeguards and make encryption, MFA, and continuous monitoring mandatory for all covered entities and business associates.
References
Jiang, J. X., Ross, J. S., & Bai, G. (2025). Ransomware attacks and data breaches in US health care systems. JAMA Network Open, 8(5), e2510180. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.10180
Kanter, G. P., Rekowski, J. R., & Kannarkat, J. T. (2024). Lessons from the Change Healthcare ransomware attack. JAMA Health Forum, 5(9), e242764. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.2764
Mavireddi, A. (2024). HIPAA-compliant data integration: Best practices for modern healthcare systems. International Journal of Research in Computer Applications and Information Technology, 7(2), 2150–2161. https://iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/Journal_uploads/IJRCAIT/VOLUME_7_ISSUE_2/IJRCAIT_07_02_154.pdf
Seh, A. H., Zarour, M., Alenezi, M., Sarkar, A. K., Agrawal, A., Kumar, R., & Khan, R. A. (2020). Healthcare data breaches: Insights and implications. Healthcare, 8(2), 133. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020133
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. (2025). Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident frequently asked questions. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/change-healthcare-cybersecurity-incident-frequently-asked-questions/index.html
Write a 4–5 page HMIS Technology Failure Essay in APA 7th Edition format, examining a recent healthcare information system breach, diagnosing leadership accountability, and recommending preventive strategies aligned with current HIPAA Security Rule requirements.
Compose a 1,050–1,400-word APA-formatted memo analyzing a major HMIS technology failure or breach, outlining key contributing factors, operational impacts, leadership responses, outcomes, and evidence-based best practices for prevention.
Week’s Assignment Preview: Week 6 – HMIS Strategic Planning and System Selection
**Course:** HSA 520 – Health Services Information Systems
**Week:** Week 6
**Assignment Type:** Strategic Planning Report
**Description:** As the Chief Information Officer of your hospital, you have been tasked with leading the selection and implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR) system to replace the current legacy platform. Your board of directors requires a comprehensive strategic planning report that evaluates at least three vendor solutions against criteria including interoperability standards (HL7 FHIR), total cost of ownership, user experience ratings, cybersecurity certifications, and alignment with the hospital’s five-year clinical expansion goals. The report must include a SWOT analysis for each vendor, a risk assessment matrix addressing potential implementation challenges, a phased rollout timeline with change management considerations, and a budget projection with ROI calculations. You will also need to address how the selected system will integrate with existing HMIS infrastructure, comply with the 21st Century Cures Act information blocking provisions, and support value-based care reporting requirements. Submit a 1,500–2,000-word strategic report in APA 7th Edition format with at least five quality sources, including vendor white papers and peer-reviewed implementation studies.
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