Information Systems for Healthcare: Why We Haven't Had More Success

Abstract

Over the last number of years, I have often been asked: “Why haven't we had more success in implementing Information Technology (IT) in Healthcare?” Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. The answer is usually heavily dependent on several factors that “define” the specific implementation in question — consequently, the answer is one comprised of a number of interrelated factors or components. In order to facilitate this answer process, this paper attempts to identify these individual answer components. At the very least, this will help simplify the process of answering future questions by referring to the components outlined herein. At most, in addition to providing a reference compendium for others, it will assist in increasing the solution implementation success rate by exploring the problem definition in detail: The first step in solving a problem is to have it fully articulated.