By Dr. S. B. Bhattacharyya, SBB’s Blog
The abominably low success rates (< 4%) of healthcare IT implementations worldwide can be attributed to two principal reasons. (1) Improper leveraging of the actual end users, and (2) lack of having qualified experts to mentor, if not actually do the review and final testing.Let me go ahead and say it unequivocally, without healthcare informaticists guiding them, these success rates will continue to hold at these figures.It should be of no surprise to conclude that these low rates are unsustainable in the long run and something is bound to give.
Thus, health informaticists should take heart. There is a sobering thought that one must consider, a health informaticist must be capable to do the job. The capability does not only mean getting a qualification in the subject, but topping it up with experience on the ground.
Just like one does not become a cardiologist by attending a few conferences, listening in to a few lectures and getting a diploma or a degree in the subject, one does not become a health informaticist by doing likewise. With practice comes experience and with that comes perfection. One must have a broad understanding of both the domain (administration, finance, or clinical that includes nursing) and the technology (requirements management, functional designing, verification and validation, and training).
Change management is a very important aspect of any healthcare IT implementation, yet it is the one that is not paid serious heed to. It starts from the very basic understanding that once an automated system is put in place, the end user will need to use the keyboard, the mouse and the screen instead of the trusted pen and paper. The world as he knows it changes forever for him.
Every process will be touched. Some will undergo only a minor change (moving over from paper-base to electronic-base) or be stopped altogether. Most will undergo moderate-to-major changes.
The people will have to change too. Some will cope brilliantly almost to the point of taking to the new system like a duck to water. Others will simply quit as they are unable to cope and find the changes too overwhelming. Most will need to undergo training and repeated re-training to get them up to speed. Some will welcome it, some will just accept it, while others will resent it but marshall on nevertheless.
