Persuasion Plan to Implement New It System

Valle del Lili Foundation

Cali, Columbia

TO:    Vicente Borrero, the CEO

CC:    HR Department

FROM:  Yipeng Scott Chen, Chief Information Officer

SUBJECT: Persuasion plan to implement new IT system

RECOMMENDTAION:

Accepting the IT solution to improve the situation and Making a comprehensive plan in doctors, clinical assistant and the whole organization perspectives to win adaptation from employees to system

BACKGROUND AND PERTINENT FACTS:

In past, we VLF, serving as a hospital in Columbia, suffering from obstacles that may soon cause a big loss in margin.  The out-date system to record patients information and operate process slow down our growth.

Confronting the problem, the committee of executive members , however, hold different idea toward the orientation. Some insisted to simply add some machines or computers to assist medical stuff, while other suggested to use an integrated information system. The latter plan was against by many employees.

1. Problem FLV meets at present in operation and service

There exist a growing demand for service delivery.  Simply considering the number of beds in 2010 had increased by nearly 60% compared to that in 2006, our hospital will at least increase 60 % staff managing those beds. Because we can hardly employ sufficient staff to fulfill the gap of necessary labor, and also the service performances are not equally good as before.

We get used to write down the information provided by our patients, which has potential risk and cause inefficiency, for the labor work is heavy.  Due to hand writing record method, we can merely update the patient record in time ,thus arising delays in patient chart availability, missing charts, duplicated orders.

Operational process are not effective enough. Our out-date records system makes backlogs in filing all required documents. Moreover, limited physical space to archive paper documents nowadays, force us to change the system and working routines to standard procedure under an integrated Enterprise Relationship System. Previously, VLF redeem too many rights to the doctors and other staff to choose the system they prefer, which are not compatible each other. Ultimately, preserving the status quo had negative impacts on patient safety, VLF’s growth goals, and operational performance.

Without the electronic system, billing processes can be very complex. We had met delays in billing insurance companies and missing charges serval times just because all thing done in paper work, lacking of automatic reminder.

1. Resistance to implement the IT solution

Unwillingness from our medical stuff is a main source that barrier expanding new information system, derived from our formed routines and unawareness of the function of IT.

Doctors are familiar with other information systems and installing new system will indeed make a cost both in time and in fund. Adapting new technology requires a higher workloads for all workers in VLF. Especially for doctors. They even perceive systematization as a clerical function with no specific relation with medical practice.

Besides, even new enterprise tool will partially release workers from their burden: writing down records, collect all the paper documents etc., but clinical staff assistants will sense insecurity since they might think they will be replaced by machines.

All those changes will affect the whole team, that our responsibilities and general management need to be adjusted.

SOLUTIONS:

To fulfill the demand of changed markets, I strongly suggest we hospital to have IT system and here are my recommendations to gain support from those opponents: