Strategic Deployment of Technology in Hospitals: Evidence for Reengineering

What are the strategic operations choices that shape the hospital’s capabilities and at the same time define its constraints? In this article, we identify competitive capabilities hospital executives believe are required for competing successfully and discuss the strategic role of technology in hospital operations. First, a meta-process model for understanding the hospital delivery system as an organized linkage of generic processes is presented. The importance of technology as a hospital-wide process enabler in the model is illuminated. Then we explore how 65 hospital executives perceive strategic technology choices now and in the future. From the data, we identify a core set of critical success factors with respect to strategic technology use in hospitals. Wide gaps between the competitive priorities needed to achieve success and current capabilities are found. These gaps are highlighted by investigating the differences in capabilities and investments in both clinical and management technologies.

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