Healthcare Information Technology Research & Analysis : Coplan & Company : IT Procurement Management, Project Management, System Acquisition

Successfully adopting and sustaining Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) rarely happens. The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported that only 4% of US doctors fully utilized an EMR.  Why does this happen? Post mortems frequently cite project management failures and user dissatisfaction.  For example, Mark Anderson, CEO of the AC Group, Inc. discussed the slow adoption rate of EMR in terms of charting a patient with paper and pen is typically faster than with a computer.

Slow HIT adoption rates raises two questions. How do we improve project management and how do we increase user buy-in? As examples, limited stakeholder involvement reduces project management effectiveness, while neglected workflow redesign erodes user satisfaction. The prevailing attitude of Not Invented Here (NIH) complicates both problems. NIH is the cultural bias of an organization refusing to consider something because it originated elsewhere.

We cannot end project management failures and user dissatisfaction without first overcoming the NIH culture in healthcare organizations. Managing healthcare organizations has many unique challenges. For examples, the industry is extremely information intensive, there are many large and small organizations that must work together, clinical and administrative management often have conflicting objectives, patient care is fragmented and complex, the industry is heavily regulated, privacy is paramount, etc.

Every industry has its unique problems, but they share many common project management and user satisfaction issues with healthcare. Focusing on the uniqueness of healthcare limits taking advantage of project management and user satisfaction best practices in other industries. For example, conducting a stakeholders analysis helps maximize the strengths and minimizes the weakness of stakeholders. Engaging users during planning, definition, acquisition and implementation gives them a vested interest in project success.

How do we as an industry solve the NIH problem together? We must start by saying NIH is not so. It limits us. It is not correct. It is based on a false premise. We must understand we have much in common with other industries. We have to look to successes in other industries and be willingly to apply appropriate best practices or HIT will continue to fail.