Clinical leaders and IT leaders increasingly interact as technology is integrated into the healthcare system.
A new study from Vocera Communications and HIMSS Analytics plunged in and dissected how the two groups view and analyze the value of clinical IT solutions.
Before and during this year’s HIMSS conference, Vocera and HIMSS Analytics surveyed 124 clinical and IT leaders from hospitals, health systems and outpatient facilities.
What exactly do leaders value in a clinical IT solution? The results show individuals from both groups see patient safety as the most important value a clinical IT solution can deliver.
But from there, the groups’ opinions change. Thirty-three percent of IT respondents said access to clinical data is crucial, compared to only 26 percent of clinical respondents. And although 26 percent of clinical leaders want to know how a system can save clinicians time and money, only 16 percent of IT leaders feel the same.
When it comes to outlining requirements for clinical IT solution investments, most respondents pointed to collaboration as a key means by which they do so. Fifty-one percent of IT respondents and 54 percent of clinical respondents said their system’s clinical and IT teams work together to establish requirements.
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Another 14 percent of IT leaders and 20 percent of clinical leaders said they’re using a collaboration approach and consulting with frontline workers to determine the necessary requirements.
Some hospitals, however, take a different approach. Twenty-seven percent of IT respondents and 20 percent of clinical respondents said their IT team takes the lead when it comes to assessing clinical IT system investments. Eight percent of IT respondents and 4 percent of clinical respondents said their clinical team heads up the requirement definition process.
Once a solution is selected and implemented, how do teams measure its success? The majority of respondents (39 percent of IT leaders and 46 percent of clinical leaders) said they primarily define success by looking at a solution’s clinical metrics.
Sixteen percent of IT respondents and 17 percent of clinical respondents said they measure success based on implementation metrics. Respondents also pointed to experience measures, technical measures and efficiency measures as sources of analyzing success.
While examining new clinical IT solutions, surveyed leaders are clearly valuing collaboration between the IT and clinical leadership teams. But as Vocera and HIMSS Analytics point out, that collaboration can have a broader reach throughout all parts of the process.
“IT and clinical leaders have laid strong foundations for a collaborative approach, but they have an opportunity to go further in many areas, for example by encouraging more direct engagement between IT and frontline caregivers,” the study reads.
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