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IT Department & Resource Management
The visibility of the IT department in support of
the healthcare organization’s overall strategic direction has
continued to increase as technology has become pervasive throughout
all aspects of operations, patient care, and executive leadership.
No longer can IT departments be figuratively “in the basement,”
maintaining the status quo and simply reacting to requests for
services, products, and information. The IT leadership and staff
are expected to be an integral part of day-to-day activities, as
well as leaders (both technically and strategically) for the myriad
of IT initiatives that are planned, in process, and implemented.
High expectations exist for department resources and expertise, and
for continuous investment in IT, while maintaining a stable, secure,
and reliable technical environment for patients, providers, and
employees. ECG Management Consultants, Inc., has the expertise to align the IT department and
specific projects with the expectations and constraints of the
organization. Our services to IT departments include:
- Assessments of staffing, services, and technology.
- Project audits and quality assurance.
- Project management.
- Project management training and project management office (PMO) development.
- Help desk audit and performance improvement.
- Service-level agreements – design, implementation, and monitoring.
- Outsourcing analysis, vendor selection, and transition planning.
- Service, product, and technology pricing and cost allocation methodologies.
Examples of our recent IT department operations and outsourcing projects are presented below.
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Selected Projects
- Assisting a health system with revising management, operations, and governance of its IT Department.
ECG assessed a healthcare system’s current
IT environment, including department management, staffing, costs, and governance.
This project resulted in a series of recommendations to improve the value and delivery
of IT services. Recommendations included revisions in the organization, management,
and governance of the IT resource to improve the connection between IT operations and
organizational goals and management. An implementation plan was developed to execute
the recommendations.
- Assisting a medical school with an organizational review and restructuring of the IT Department.
The objective of this engagement was to
assess a school of medicine’s information systems, including an organizational review
of the IT Department and an evaluation of major system requirements. This project
resulted in a series of recommendations and initiatives to enhance the school of
medicine’s access to information and use of IT, as well as to establish a responsive technical
resource organization. A plan was developed and executed to implement the recommendations.
- Evaluating the outsourcing of application and desktop support for a large health system.
ECG assisted a health system’s Information Services
Department in the selection of an outsource vendor to provide help desk and desktop support
to the primary care network practices utilizing a standard practice management and electronic
medical record application. We supported a multidisciplinary work group including
representatives from information services, clinic operations management, and physician
leadership. This project resulted in the work group reaching consensus on the selection
of a vendor to provide outsourced help desk and desktop support to over 600 end users in
more than 40 locations. A contract was successfully negotiated and the transition of services
completed.
- Assessing the effectiveness of information services for an academic medical center.
ECG completed an engagement to assess an academic
medical center’s Corporate Information Services Department. It resulted in a set of
findings and recommendations aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the services and
support provided by this department to its academic medical center constituents in
current and future information systems projects.
- Assessing a hospital's IT strategic plan and barriers to accomplishing its objectives.
We conducted an assessment for a hospital’s
senior leadership on the appropriateness of the Information Services (IS) strategic plan
and the ability of the IS Department to address the business and clinical system
requirements of other departments and providers. The project scope included a
review of the general status of IS through interviews with IS and user department
management, as well as a critical evaluation of the strategic plan and specific
initiatives planned and in process. In addition, we conducted a high-level survey
of peer organizations to assess comparative structures and to evaluate the level of
spending for information systems, technology, and resources in similar organizations.
This project resulted in a final report highlighting significant findings and recommendations,
including specific strategies for enhancing the value of investments in IT.
- Redesigning IT governance and developing a comprehensive IT plan for an academic medical center.
At a major academic medical center, we completed
a project to: (1) form a Joint Information Services (IS) Planning Committee that included
representatives from the specialty faculty practice plan, primary care organization,
and medical center; and (2) facilitate formation of a plan for a consolidated IT
infrastructure for the faculty practices through a series of committee meetings.
The project culminated in the Joint IS Planning Committee deciding on the formation
of an IS organizational model that created a common governance structure, while
allowing both practice groups adequate internal resources to support their respective
organizations.
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