Successful Health Information System Implementation

A Standish Group (1994) study showed that only 16% of all information technology projects come in on time and within budget. The situation is not better concerning health information systems. Many health information system implementations are less than completely successful (Berg, 2001; Giuse & Kuhn, 2003; Lorenzi & Riley, 2003). In this article, the health information system means “a system, whether automated or manual, that comprises people, machines and /or methods organized to collect, process, transmit, and disseminate” data that represent user information in healthcare (Kuhn & Giuse, 2001, pp. 275). What is successful implementation and whose success is measured? Successes can be measured in many ways. Delone and McLean have been finding out the success factors of management information system which are also applicable to health information system. The success factors are: system qualities, e.g., the ease of use or time savings, information quality, e.g., completeness or data accuracy, usage, e.g., the frequency of use or the number of entries, user satisfaction, e.g., user-friendliness or overall satisfaction, individual impact, e.g., changed work practices or direct benefits and organizational impact, e.g., communication and collaboration or impact on patient care. Furthermore, user involvement during system development, implementation and organizational culture have been identified as possible factors measuring the success. However, the need for further research to determine which attributes are the most useful ones in measuring success has also been revealed. (van der Meijden, Tange, Troost & Hashman, 2003). The different phases in implementation process are, in general, user needs and requirements analysis (specification), system design, initial system implementation and testing (Ahmad, Teater, Bentley, Kuehn, Kumar, Thomas & Mekhjian, 2002; Schuster, Hall, Couse, Swayngim & Kohatsu, 2003; Souther, 2001). The system requirements analysis includes workflow analysis, and the initial system implementation includes the technical installation of the information system, integration of the information system to other information systems and users’ training. Project management is an important factor in every phase of the implementation project. The purpose of this article is to highlight the health information system implementation process from enduser perspective. Which factors are crucial in the implementation process from the point of view of the endusers? How does project management contribute to the implementation process, what is the role of the end-user in system designing and how does training effect the information system implementation?