1. Exhibit strong leadership. In order to excel with in HIT project management, strong leadership during an HIT implementation is important. Ms. Cooper recommends that hospital officials use as much executive and clinical leadership throughout the project process as possible. In addition, it is a great idea to have the board leadership involved as well.
2. Draw on experience. It may seem intuitive, but partners and vendors for hospital IT projects should be experienced in order to establish the best viability for the project. According to Ms. Cooper, experienced partners should have financial viability, regional market penetration, good references and a strong leadership team of their own.
3. Invest time on workflow design. In order to integrate an EHR or other HIT projects with a hospital’s existing clinical workflow, it is important for the hospital to involve all departments in the project stages. “An EHR that does not integrate smoothly within the clinical workflow will not allow for variation in style and risks poor adoption among users,” said Ms. Cooper. In addition, workflows should be documented from multiple sources, and the implementation team needs to consider how the hospital schedules appointments in its current system. “Take the time to streamline and standardize the work process before implementation. Do not discount anomalies and try to anticipate new methods the HIT may introduce,” said Ms. Cooper.
4. Plan for ongoing support. To avoid failure in HIT implementation, it is integral for the hospital to plan for ongoing support. “This means support at each implementation site and for the overall program. The hospital employees and IT staff may need assistance managing the infrastructure changes and software updates,” said Ms. Cooper. In addition, it is helpful for the hospital or its HIT consultants to hold ongoing training activities. The support will help the hospital physicians and employees transition successfully to the new HIT system.
5. Understand the financial commitment. The final key to success in HIT project management is to understand the full financial commitment of effective HIT implementation. According to Ms. Cooper, this involves initial changes to productivity, space renovation and IT needs like hardware, software and connectivity. In addition, hospital executives need to plan for expenses associated with full training of staff. Transitioning employees from HIT novices to HIT experts is time intensive. Ongoing training and education mentioned above should be included in the financial projections. When these expenses are expected, the full implementation is more likely to run smoothly and be successful.
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