Many healthcare organizations are running the numbers on IT investment, weighing the costs versus the benefits of what type of system to use.
In an era of declining reimbursements and rising costs as well as tightening regulations, many CIOs may go for the system that provides the most for the least. However, data management company Peak 10's solutions engineer, Steve Hasselbach, says hospitals need to invest in IT partnerships now.
Peak 10, based in Charlotte, N.C., focuses on consultative relationships with its clients. Mr. Hasselbach cited a client case in which the company was able to reduce its costs by implementing a cloud-based solution, outsourcing its IT management. Companies who outsource their IT management to a firm do not have to employ the IT experts themselves, saving on employee time as well as staffing, he said.
Mr. Hasselbach said he usually sees larger healthcare organizations stick to the model of owning all their own data, but that requires more expense than if they used a Software-as-a-Service, cloud-based model. That requires organizations to relinquish some control over their data, but that lack of control can be alleviated through a better partnership with the IT firm as well as more diligence in data storage, he said.
"Healthcare organizations are sure everything is taken care of [by the SaaS vendor] but never ask their question, 'Where is my data?'" Mr. Hasselbach said. "Sometimes that data ends up getting pushed outside the U.S. and into Canada. I think organizations are not doing enough due diligence on the SaaS providers they are using."
Mr. Hasselbach said the cost should not necessarily be the biggest decision factor. Analyses on savings can be easily manipulated, so healthcare organizations should carefully weigh their IT goals. He recommends shaping a three-year strategy and sharing it with the organization's IT vendor so all the decisions made now will fit in with the long-term vision.
"When you start going for just cost, cost, cost, nine times out of 10 you're going to lose," Mr. Hasselbach said. "The value that Peak 10 brings and a lot of other providers bring is not just its service but to sit down with somebody and use the knowledge and experience that people like me have. We're developing more of a partnership."