Key health information systems outsourcing issues from six hospital cases

© 2013 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. Traditionally, little attention has been paid by hospitals to the key issues in the health information systems (HIS) outsourcing decision-making process. This is important given that the HIS outsourcing can play a key role in assisting hospitals in achieving its business objectives. However, the decision-making process of HIS outsourcing in hospitals is under-studied, especially in the management of their HIS outsourcing contracts. Therefore, the main objectives of this book chapter are to: (1) examine key issues surrounding the management and implementation of HIS outsourcing in Taiwanese hospitals; and (2) identify issues that are crucial in managing and implementing HIS outsourcing in hospitals. Four key issues and problems were identified in the HIS outsourcing process: lack of implementation in IS investment evaluation process, problems in managing HIS outsourcing contracts, lack of user involvement and participation in HIS outsourcing process, and failure to retain critical HIS contract management skills and project management capabilities in-house. Solutions and recommendations are provided to deal with key issues that are critical in the management and implementation of HIS outsourcing in hospitals

A preliminary study of key factors affecting management and evaluation of IT outsourcing contracts in hospitals

© 2015 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. Many hospitals are experiencing pressure to improve their operational efficiency and patient safety due to escalating costs and increased competition. In order to achieve these and other business objectives, hospitals have to outsource some of their Information Technology (IT) functions to external outsourcing contractors. The scope and range of IT-related outsourcing services are also increasing, as evidenced by the promotion of Applications Service Providers (ASP), Business-to-Business (B2B) integration, cloud-drive business and IT services, desktop and helpdesk, IT infrastructure services, and software development outsourcing. However, little attention has been paid by many hospitals to the key factors that affect their IT outsourcing decision-making and negotiation processes. This is important given that the IT outsourcing can play a key role in organizational success. Moreover, contract decision-making and negotiation processes in hospitals are particularly under-studied, especially in the management and evaluation of the IT outsourcing contracts. Hence, the main objectives of this chapter are to: (1) examine and identify some key factors affecting the management and evaluation of IT outsourcing contracts in Taiwanese hospitals; and (2) propose a set of recommendations to overcome or minimize the key issues identified in this study. One contribution of the study is the recommendations provided to deal with issues that are critical in the management and evaluation of IT outsourcing contracts in hospitals