- Proposed Prioritization Process
- Development of an Information Flow Model for the Facility
- Devolve Spending to Ensure all Departments Maintain Adequate IT Capabilities
- Identify the Needs of the Organization
- Develop a Needs-Based Criterion for Making Funding Decisions
- Establishment of a Permanent IT-Council to Monitor IT Projects
IT systems have become indispensable in the management of healthcare. It is clear that modern healthcare systems cannot operate without IT systems. However, the cost of IT infrastructure can be prohibitive. In this regard, every healthcare provider must find a way of prioritizing its IT budgets to achieve the most value from its investments. This paper proposes a method of prioritizing IT spending with the goal of maximizing the value of investments in IT infrastructure.
Proposed Prioritization Process
The nature of IT infrastructure makes prioritization of IT spending very complex. It is very difficult to quantify the benefits associated with an IT program. This is because IT mainly plays a facilitative role. In this regard, IT spending decisions require an understanding of the value chain of a business. The model proposed for the prioritization of IT decisions in a healthcare setting is as follows.
Development of an Information Flow Model for the Facility
The first step in the prioritization of IT spending is to develop an information flow model for the healthcare institution. This model should capture all IT-based services in the organization and the information they carry. The model should also identify the people involved in the management of the information.
The third aspect of the model is the identification of internal and external stakeholders of the organization. The objective of the information flow model is to develop a full view of the information ecosystem of the healthcare organization. This model will make it easy to analyze the impact of every proposal sent by individual departments.
Devolve Spending to Ensure all Departments Maintain Adequate IT Capabilities
The second element of this model is to devolve spending to the departments. The council should assign some resources to every department to ensure that they can address their local IT priorities. The council should prioritize projects that promote interconnectivity and the sharing of resources.
For instance, if a department requests for a server that can help to manage information from other departments, such a request should receive more attention. The need to devolve a fraction of the spending is that each department has its priorities. Some of the priorities are unique. In this regard, centralized control of IT services can lead to a reduction in the benefits associated with specific IT investments.
Identify the Needs of the Organization
Thirdly, the healthcare organization should use the priorities identified by the departments to identify common problems and similar infrastructure needs. The list of projects that arise from this exercise will give the organization a picture of its strategic needs.
If the IT-Council can identify common IT problems that require similar solutions, then it can find out whether it can develop a centralized response to these problems. To use the earlier example, if the healthcare institutions find out that many departments are looking for storage space, a centralized storage facility may be the answer. This will enable the IT-Council to save on the decentralized expenses.
Develop a Needs-Based Criterion for Making Funding Decisions
The fourth element of the proposed model is to develop a common criterion for funding IT projects. It’s very important to involve all stakeholders in this decision. This is because of the need to create a sense of ownership for all IT projects. Failure to win the support of all departments in this exercise may work against the organization. If some departments fail to appreciate why the IT–Council made a decision to adopt a particular project over others, then they may resist its implementation. This will lead to a loss of value.
The proposed criteria for the funding of IT projects include the following guidelines. First, the project must support interconnectivity among business systems. Any high level project funded directly by the IT-Council should fit into the information ecosystem of the health care facility.
Secondly, the IT-Council should support projects that encourage the sharing of IT resources. This means that the council should only fund projects that can support the largest number of users in the healthcare facility. This will eliminate investment in unwanted spare capacity and will help to maximize the value that the organization derives from its IT infrastructure.
Thirdly, IT projects funded by the IT-Council should be scalable. The IT needs of many organizations grow and evolve with time. Scalability can help save money because there will be no need to invest afresh in bigger systems as the needs of the organization grow. The company will only need to increase the capacity of existing systems.
Establishment of a Permanent IT-Council to Monitor IT Projects
The final element of the proposed model is the tasking of the IT-Council with the responsibility of monitoring the IT budget on an on-going basis. It is possible for the organization to establish an ad-hoc IT-Council just in time for its annual budgeting activities. However, an IT-Council that sits throughout the year will ensure that the company gets the highest returns from its spending on IT infrastructure. In addition, the council can act as the custodian of the company’s IT infrastructure development projects.