| Course | HI550 Organizational Development and Management for Health Information |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | Team development proposal |
| Length | About 950 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Health Informatics |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HI550 Unit 7
When One Person Takes Leave: A Unit 7 Team Development Proposal to Give Twelve of Fourteen Records Processes a Second Holder
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HI550: Organizational Development and Management for Health Information
Unit 7 Team Development Proposal
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Quillan Health, the central records team, every absence and every cost are composite; the sources cited are real.
The Problem in One Fortnight
In June the records technician at Quillan's critical access hospital took two weeks of planned leave. No one else in the system had indexed outside records at that site or knew its filing rules for transfer packets from the regional trauma center. When she returned, 140 items were waiting, including discharge summaries a local physician had asked for twice. Two other absences in the past year caused similar delays: a subpoena response that went out on its deadline only because a supervisor read the procedure for the first time that morning, and an amendment decision held for three weeks while the one person who handled amendments was out.
Diagnosis
Wegner (1987) described transactive memory as the shared system a group uses to store knowledge across its members, in which each person knows who holds what. The central records team has an excellent transactive memory: everyone knows to send subpoenas to one person and amendments to another. That is exactly why it fails when the holder is away. Lewis (2003) found that such systems work through specialization, credibility and coordination, and the team scores high on all three. The goal of this proposal is therefore not a better directory of who knows what. It is redundancy, so that the directory has a second name on most lines.
The Coverage Grid Today
Fourteen processes were rated for each of the team's eight members at one of four levels: has watched, does with a check, does alone, can teach. The processes, with the number of people who can do each alone:
1. Subpoena response: one.
2. Court order and legal hold review: one.
3. Amendment requests: one.
4. Outside record indexing at the critical access site: one.
5. Outside record indexing at the regional and community hospitals: four.
6. Patient right of access requests: three.
7. Disability and insurance requests: two.
8. Deceased patient records requests: one.
9. Record corrections and merges of duplicate charts: one.
10. Release to law enforcement: one.
11. Workers' compensation requests: one.
12. Research data requests: one.
13. Retention and destruction logs: one.
14. Breach log entries and referrals to privacy: one.
Only three of the fourteen processes have two or more people who can do the work alone, and nearly every process with a legal deadline has exactly one.
The Target
The target is twelve of fourteen processes with at least two people at the does-alone level within six months. Two processes will stay with one holder for now. Research data requests are rare, about one a month, and are already reviewed by the privacy office before release, so the risk of delay is low. Retention and destruction logs are run quarterly and can wait for a holder's return without harm.
Method
Processes are paired in order of risk. Subpoena response, legal holds, amendments, law enforcement release and breach log entries come first, since each carries a deadline or legal exposure. Indexing at the critical access site follows, and routine processes such as workers' compensation requests come last.
1. Paired sessions. Each sole holder works alongside a partner for four hours a week on the process being transferred. The partner watches first, then performs with the holder checking.
2. Desk procedures. Each sole holder writes the procedure for her process. The partner then performs the process from the procedure alone while the holder watches, which tests the document as well as the learner. Gaps found this way go back into the procedure the same day.
3. Rotation calendar. Once a partner reaches the does-alone level, the two holders alternate the process month by month, so that the second holder's skill does not fade.
4. Review. The grid is rated again at three months and six months.
Health information management textbooks recommend cross-training and written procedures as the standard defense against single points of failure in a records department (Oachs & Watters, 2020). The method here adds a test of every procedure by someone other than its writer.
Cost
Paired sessions take eight staff hours a week per pair, four from each person. Running as many as four pairs together during months one through three, the team gives up about 32 hours a week, close to one full-time position. Turnaround for routine release requests is expected to rise by one to two business days during that period, still well within the thirty days allowed for access requests. A temporary half-time release specialist from the system float pool for twelve weeks would hold turnaround steady, at an estimated cost of $11,000.
What Development Cannot Fix
One limit cannot be solved by training. The critical access site's outside records arrive on paper and by fax at that site, and no one at another location can index them without remote access to the site's document queue. Giving a backup at the regional center that access is a structural decision for the system director and the critical access administrator, involving access rights and the site's scanner configuration. This proposal recommends it, but it is outside what team development can deliver.
Expected Results
At six months, the team should show twelve processes with two independent holders, desk procedures tested for all fourteen, and no deadline missed during a planned absence. The next planned absence at the critical access site will be the first real test.
References
Lewis, K. (2003). Measuring transactive memory systems in the field: Scale development and validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 587-604. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.587
Oachs, P. K., & Watters, A. L. (Eds.). (2020). Health information management: Concepts, principles, and practice (6th ed.). AHIMA Press.
Wegner, D. M. (1987). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group mind. In B. Mullen & G. R. Goethals (Eds.), Theories of group behavior (pp. 185-208). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4634-3_9
Reading the HI 550 Unit 7 instructions
Unit 7 typically asks you to propose a development plan for a health information team, grounded in a problem from the scenario or your workplace. Expect to describe the current state, diagnose it with a concept from the course or the literature, set measurable goals, explain the method and estimate cost. Many sections suggest about six pages plus a figure. A coverage or skills grid is a useful way to show the current state at a glance. Order the work by risk, so that processes with legal deadlines come first. Be honest about anything training cannot solve, such as access rights or structure. Instructors usually want proof of progress, so name the measure and the date someone will look at it.
How the HI 550 Unit 7 example is put together
The proposal opens with the two-week absence and two other delays, a subpoena and an amendment decision. A diagnosis section explains transactive memory and argues that the team needs redundancy rather than a better directory, drawing on Lewis for its three components. Fourteen numbered processes then show how many people can do each alone, and the highlighted sentence notes that only three have a second holder. The target section sets twelve and explains why research requests and retention logs stay with one holder. Four method steps follow: paired sessions, procedures written by the holder and tested by a partner, a rotation calendar, and grid reviews at three and six months. A cost section states the hours and the turnaround effect and offers a float-pool option. The final sections name the structural limit at the smallest site and the expected results.
HI550 Unit 7 rubric: what earns full points
Team development proposals are generally scored on the problem statement, the diagnosis, the goals and method, the cost and evaluation, and the writing. Method and goals usually carry the largest share, judged on whether they are specific, measurable and ordered sensibly. The diagnosis earns credit when a concept genuinely explains the problem rather than decorating it. Cost estimates are rewarded when they include staff time, not only money. Evaluation needs a measure and a date. Graders often give credit for recognizing limits, such as a problem that needs a structural decision. The grid itself, headings that follow the prompt and correct APA account for what is left. Proposals that recommend team-building activities without linking them to a measured gap tend to score low.
HI550 Unit 7 help: mistakes that cost points
Proposals in this unit are frequently returned for vague goals such as improve teamwork. Another common issue is a training plan with no order, so low-risk tasks get attention before those with deadlines. Some papers diagnose the team with a popular model that does not fit the problem described. Costs are often left out or given only in dollars, which hides the effect on turnaround. A plan with no way to check results is incomplete. Be careful not to promise that training will fix access or staffing problems. If your team works in a coding vendor or a physician group, outline the processes and people involved with the prompt, and a proposal can be drafted around your team.
Get an HI550 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Tell the writer which processes the team runs and where coverage has failed, names removed, or share the supplied case instead. With the rubric added, a free first custom sample, due within 24-48h, carries a coverage grid built on those processes rather than a generic list. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HI550 Unit 7 questions, answered
Is transactive memory a standard framework for this assignment?
It is less common than stage models, which is part of its value here: it explains a coverage failure directly. Wegner developed the idea for couples and small groups, and later research extended it to work teams. If your course text emphasizes a different model, use it where it fits, but match the framework to the failure being addressed rather than to what the chapter happened to cover.
How many people should be trained on each process?
Two independent people is a common minimum for continuity, and the example sets that target for twelve of fourteen processes. More coverage costs more hours and fades if people rarely perform the work. The right figure depends on how often the process occurs, how much harm a delay causes, and how quickly a skill decays without use, so the proposal justifies each exception.
Does the proposal need a budget?
Some prompts require one; most at least expect the cost in hours. The example converts paired time into production hours lost and estimates the temporary effect on turnaround, which is the cost managers actually weigh. A dollar figure can be added where the prompt asks, with the wage assumption stated, but the hours matter more to the argument.
Where can I find a free HI550 Unit 7 sample paper?
You can read the complete Unit 7 proposal on this page, from the fourteen-process coverage grid to the six-month target and its cost in hours.
What is transactive memory and why does it matter for a records team?
It is the shared knowledge of who in a group knows what. A team can rely on it heavily and still stall whenever the one person holding a process is absent, which is why redundancy matters.