Tasked with delivering optimal care while minimizing costs and navigating complex regulatory environments, healthcare organizations today are under extreme pressure to do more with less. Rightsizing healthcare IT operations—which simply means aligning IT resources with enterprise strategic goals—is an effective strategy to meet this challenge.

By utilizing the checklist below, healthcare leaders can optimize their IT departments for performance, scalability, and value. Completing these three assessments will ensure IT resources are operating at their highest efficiency, freeing up critical capacity to focus on the most important task: patient care.

Comprehensive IT Assessment

• An IT assessment is the foundation of any rightsizing effort. It provides a clear picture of your current infrastructure, systems, and workflows to establish a baseline for target improvements. Items typically reviewed include:
  • Hardware and software inventory.
  • System interoperability.
  • AI readiness.
  • Support and maintenance models

IT Staffing Assessment

• Staffing is often the largest line item in an IT budget, so it is essential that your team structure effectively supports your operational goals. An evaluation of current staffing can provide necessary insights to help optimize roles, address gaps, and ensure alignment with business priorities. Key questions to consider in your assessment include the following:
  • Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined?
  • Do you have the right mix of in-house and outsourced talent?
  • Are there skill gaps that need to be addressed?
  • Is your team structured to support 24/7 operations and future growth?
  • Are there areas where deploying automation could free up staff for more strategic work?
  • Are your IT resources, including hardware, software, and cloud services, being used efficiently and effectively?

Benchmarking Assessment

• Benchmarking provides context. It allows you to compare your IT operations against peer organizations and industry best practices. Metrics to be benchmarked might include:
  • IT spend as a percentage of the operating budget.
  • Staffing ratios by definition.
  • Shadow or outsourced IT identification and blending.
  • Support desk response times.
  • System uptime and incident resolution rates.

The Payoff: Agility, Efficiency, and Better Patient Care

Rightsizing is not a one-time project—it’s an ongoing process of evaluation and adaptation. By regularly assessing your IT environment, staffing, and performance, you can stay ahead of the curve and ensure your technology investments are delivering maximum value. When done right, rightsizing doesn’t just reduce costs—it enhances agility, improves service delivery, and positions your organization for long-term success by expanding your IT department’s role from support function to strategic enabler of clinical and operational excellence.

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Edited by Emily Johnson