Implementing IT in NHS hospitals - internal barriers to technological advancement

There remains an ambitious objective to develop high specification Hospital Information Systems within the UK National Health Service, but progress has been slow. Successful implementation requires both effective project management and process change. The literature already acknowledges the difficult environment that healthcare IT projects operate within. This paper uses a longitudinal case study to examine the presence or absence of critical success factors in an NHS Hospital, for both the implementation and operationalisation of technology. The findings suggest that external factors are not the only reason for the slow introduction and limited impact of new technology. Internal barriers that significantly limit the implementation process include an unsupportive organisation structure, irreconcilable differences in stakeholder requirements, the low status of the project team, a poor understanding of process management issues and organisation politics.

[1]  V Carignani,et al.  Management of change in health care organisations and human resource role. , 2000, European journal of radiology.

[2]  Jytte Brender,et al.  Methodology for constructive assessment of IT-based systems in an organisational context , 1999, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[3]  D. R. Dixon,et al.  The behavioral side of information technology , 1999, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[4]  Frank Charles Gray Southon,et al.  IT, Change and evaluation: an overview of the role of evaluation in health services , 1999, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[5]  Chris Sauer,et al.  Lessons from a failed information systems initiative: issues for complex organisations , 1999, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[6]  Paul Beynon-Davies,et al.  Human error and information systems failure: the case of the London ambulance service computer-aided despatch system project , 1999, Interact. Comput..

[7]  Bob Gann,et al.  Information for Health , 1999, Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy.

[8]  Alan Fowler,et al.  Conflicting perceptions of success in an information systems project , 1999 .

[9]  R Lawton,et al.  Procedures and the professional: the case of the British NHS. , 1999, Social science & medicine.

[10]  David A. Buchanan,et al.  Representing process: the contribution of a re‐engineering frame , 1998 .

[11]  Lorin M. Hitt,et al.  Beyond the productivity paradox , 1998, CACM.

[12]  N Mays,et al.  The impact of the UK NHS purchaser-provider split on the 'rational' introduction of new medical technologies. , 1998, Health policy.

[13]  Eric G. Kirby.  The importance of recognizing alternative perspectives: an analysis of a failed project , 1996 .

[14]  D Buchanan,et al.  Re-engineering operating theatres: the perspective assessed. , 1996, Journal of management in medicine.

[15]  J Orens.  Grasp operational processes before selecting system. , 1996, Health management technology.

[16]  Walid Belassi,et al.  A new framework for determining critical success/failure factors in projects , 1996 .

[17]  Michael Frese,et al.  Don't underestimate the problems of user centredness in software development projectsthere are many! , 1996, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[18]  R Thomas,et al.  Information management and technology in England's large acute NHS hospitals. National strategy versus local reality. , 1995, Journal of management in medicine.

[19]  R Thomas,et al.  Information management. Has HISS run out of steam.... , 1994, The Health service journal.

[20]  SHOULD THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE HAVE AN INFORMATION STRATEGY , 1994 .

[21]  R. T. Due.  The productivity paradox revisited , 1994 .

[22]  Erik Brynjolfsson,et al.  The productivity paradox of information technology , 1993, CACM.

[23]  M S Leaning,et al.  The new information management and technology strategy of the NHS. , 1993, BMJ.

[24]  R. Dué,et al.  The Productivity Paradox , 2018, The Productivity-Inclusiveness Nexus.

[25]  S. Roach.  Services under siege--the restructuring imperative. , 1991, Harvard business review.

[26]  P. Strassmann.  The business value of computers , 1990 .

[27]  M. Buxton,et al.  Resource Management in the National Health Service: a first case history , 1990 .

[28]  P. David.  The Dynamo and the Computer: An Historical Perspective on the Modern Productivity Paradox , 1990 .

[29]  Shoshana Zuboff.  In the Age of the Smart Machine , 1988 .

[30]  M. Buxton.  Economic Forces and Hospital Technology , 1987, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care.

[31]  Jeffrey K. Pinto,et al.  Critical factors in successful project implementation , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.