HIM 680 Module 8 Journal Example

Reviewed by Delia Ravenscroft, MSN, RN

This HIM 680 Module 8 Journal sample reflects on the people behind a data element that a governance program is working hard to capture. It was written for SNHU HIM 680 (HIM-680), where the eighth module asks MS Health Information Management learners to reflect on ethical and human questions raised by data management. The composite writer directs data governance at a four-hospital system around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and has spent weeks improving how food screening answers flow through systems. Sitting in on clinic rooming, the writer watches a mother answer no to both food questions while her child eats from the waiting room snack bowl. The entry weighs research on how patients view social risk screening against warnings about its unintended consequences and ends with a change in how the program measures success.

CourseHIM 680 Advanced Topics in HIM I
ModuleModule 8
Paper typegraduate journal entry on the ethics of collecting social risk data
LengthAbout 370 words, 3 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolSouthern New Hampshire University
ProgramMS Health Information Management
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for HIM 680 Module 8

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Module Eight Journal

The Cracker Bowl

I spent Tuesday morning in a clinic watching rooming, to see where the food screening answers begin. A medical assistant asked a young mother the two questions quickly, as the last step before the doctor came in. She answered no to both. Her son, about four, had eaten most of the crackers from the bowl in the waiting room and asked for more. I have spent six weeks making sure her answer reaches the warehouse. I had not spent a minute thinking about whether her answer was true.

What this page is doingA small observed moment unsettles the writer's assumptions.
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Research suggests most patients are willing to be asked. De Marchis et al. (2019) surveyed patients and caregivers across several health systems and found that 79% thought social risk screening was appropriate and 65% were comfortable having social risks recorded in their health records. Comfort was lower among people who had experienced discrimination in health care. That last finding matters in our clinics, where some families have reason to be wary of what gets written down.

Garg et al. (2016) warned that screening can backfire when clinics ask without the means to help, when questions are asked without care and privacy or when answers follow families in ways they did not expect. A parent who fears that admitting hunger could bring a report to child protective services has a rational reason to say no. The two-question screen we adopted is accurate when people answer honestly; Hager et al. (2010) found it identified most food-insecure families. Its accuracy depends on the conditions in which it is asked.

That changes how I read our data. The clinics with the lowest positive rates are not necessarily the ones with the least hunger. They may be the ones where patients feel least safe.

What this page is doingResearch is used to question the data's meaning.
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I am adding two things to our plan. The quality measures will include the share of screens completed privately on a tablet, since that is where positive rates looked most plausible, and the clinic social work lead will add a short line before the questions explaining why we ask and what we do with the answers. The governance program should measure whether patients trust us enough to tell the truth, not only whether their answers arrive.

What this page is doingThe writer turns the reflection into a measurable change.
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References

De Marchis, E. H., Hessler, D., Fichtenberg, C., Adler, N., Byhoff, E., Cohen, A. J., Doran, K. M., Ettinger de Cuba, S., Fleegler, E. W., Lewis, C. C., Lindau, S. T., Tung, E. L., Huebschmann, A. G., Prather, A. A., Raven, M., Gavin, N., Jepson, S., Johnson, W., Ochoa, E., . . . Gottlieb, L. M. (2019). Part I: A quantitative study of social risk screening acceptability in patients and caregivers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(6, Suppl. 1), S25-S37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.07.010

Garg, A., Boynton-Jarrett, R., & Dworkin, P. H. (2016). Avoiding the unintended consequences of screening for social determinants of health. JAMA, 316(8), 813-814. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.9282

Hager, E. R., Quigg, A. M., Black, M. M., Coleman, S. M., Heeren, T., Rose-Jacobs, R., Cook, J. T., de Cuba, S. A. E., Casey, P. H., Chilton, M., Cutts, D. B., Meyers, A. F., & Frank, D. A. (2010). Development and validity of a 2-item screen to identify families at risk for food insecurity. Pediatrics, 126(1), e26-e32. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-3146

What the HIM 680 Module 8 instructions ask for

The eighth HIM 680 module asks for a journal about the human side of data work. One page is enough, written personally, and a reading or two in APA 7 helps when it sharpens what you noticed. Pick a moment, ideally one you saw yourself, when the data you manage met the people they describe. Ask what the data actually mean, who gains or loses when they are collected and used and whether your systems take for granted something about patients or staff that may not hold. Research on acceptability, privacy or unintended effects can deepen the entry. Close with one concrete adjustment to your plan or your measures that answers what you learned, and explain how you would know if the adjustment worked.

How this HIM 680 Module 8 journal example is built

Cedar Prairie Health's director watches a mother answer no to both food questions during a rushed rooming while her son eats the waiting room crackers. De Marchis and colleagues' finding that 79% of patients find screening appropriate, but fewer after discrimination, frames the doubt. Garg and colleagues' warnings about unintended consequences, including fear of what documented answers might bring, explain why a parent might say no, and Hager and colleagues' screen is accurate only when answered honestly. The HIM 680 journal rereads low clinic positive rates as possible signs of distrust and adds two measures: the share of private tablet screens and an explanation before the questions.

Where the HIM 680 Module 8 rubric puts the points

Graders of this HIM 680 journal look for a specific moment told honestly, insight into what the data mean for the people behind them, research used to deepen the reflection, a willingness to question the writer's own design and a concrete adjustment someone could verify. Entries that rise to the top connect what was observed back to data quality, for instance seeing that distrust can look like low prevalence in a report. Empathy without sentimentality is valued. Details about patients should be composite or stripped of identifiers. A personal yet professional voice and correct APA 7 citations complete the stronger entries. Reflections that question a metric the writer built show particular maturity.

HIM 680 Module 8 help: the mistakes that cost points

HIM 680 journals fall short when they muse about privacy in general, summarize articles with no personal moment, describe patients in ways that could identify them or close with a loose promise to be more sensitive. If your module points to data ownership, algorithmic bias, sharing data with payers or documentation burden on clinicians, send the prompt with a short account of a moment from your work, and the entry will start from that moment. Specific scenes make better reflections than general concerns. Our HIM 680 journals tie a human observation to what the numbers really mean and end with an adjustment that can be measured.

Get HIM 680 Module 8 written to your instructions

Share the HIM 680 Module 8 prompt and a scene from your work where your data met the people they describe. The entry will reflect on it honestly, use research to question what the data mean and finish with a measurable change to your plan, usually turned around within two days, and the opening order is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.

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HIM 680 Module 8 questions, answered

Where can I find a free HIM 680 Module 8 Journal sample?

The full HIM 680 Module 8 journal is on this page, reflecting on whether patients feel safe answering food screening questions and adding trust measures to a governance plan.

Do patients accept social risk screening?

In one multi-site survey, 79% of patients and caregivers considered it appropriate and 65% were comfortable with documentation, with lower comfort among those who had faced discrimination.

What are the unintended consequences of social needs screening?

Screening without resources to help, asking without privacy or care and documentation that patients fear could be used against them can all cause harm or discourage honest answers.

Why might screening positive rates be misleading?

Low rates can reflect how questions are asked or whether patients feel safe, not only the true level of need, so the setting of screening affects data quality.

How can a data program measure patient trust?

Indirectly, for example by tracking how screens are completed, such as privately on a tablet, and comparing positive rates across settings and with outside estimates.