| In your case study paper, you should 1) How would you address the information systems challenges for LWMC? 2) Answer the Discussion Questions listed at the end of the case. You can add additional discussion points of your interest. The case study paper should be substantive with at least 800 words. Citation format for any written assignment shall be in APA format. When citing web-based works, use the new guidelines provided by APA, which can be found at: http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx. All assignments should include your name, “LIS4776”, the name of the assignment, and be in Microsoft Word. The file name format for all assignment submissions is as follows: “Group_9_LIS4776_HealthITImplementationPlan”. Case Description: The Leonard Williams Medical Center (LWMC) is a 240-bed, community acute care hospital operating in a small urban area in upstate New York. The medical center offers tertiary services and has a captive professional corporation, Williams Medical Services (WMS). WMS is a multispecialty group employing approximately fifty primary care and specialty physicians. WMS has its own board, made up of representatives of the employed physicians. The WMS board nominations for members and officers are subject to the approval of the medical centerboard. The capital and operating budgets of WMS are reviewed and approved during the LWMC budget process. The WMS board is responsible for governing the day-to-day operations of the group. LWMC serves a population of approximately 215,000. There are five other hospitals in the region. One of these, aligned with a large clinic, is viewed as the primary competitor. In its most recent fiscal year, LWMC had an operating margin of 0.4 percent. LWMC has $40 million in investments and has a long-term debt-to-equity ratio of 25 percent. Information Systems Challenge: LWMC has been very effective in its IT efforts. It was the first hospital in its region to have a clinical information system. Bedside computing has been available in the inpatient units since the 1990s. The CIO and IT departments are highly regarded. LWMC has received several industry recognitions for its efforts. The LWMC information systems steering committee recently approved the acquisition and implementation of a CPOE system. This decision followed a thorough analysis of organizational strategies, the efforts of other hospitals, and the vendor offerings. LWMC is poised to begin this major initiative. During a recent steering committee meeting, it was learned that the WMS physicians were anxious to acquire an EHR system. Two years ago a rival physician group had purchased an EHR system. WMS, concerned about a competitive threat, obtained approval of $300,000 to acquire its own EHR. The rival group has since encountered serious difficulties with implementation and has de-installed the system. This troubled path caused WMS to slow down its efforts. Now WMS has decided to return to its plans to implement a certified EHR. The physicians have begun to look at vendor offerings but have not involved the LWMC CIO and IT staff members. The physicians have ignored the CIO’s technical and integration advice and requirements during their EHR search. The CEO is concerned about the EHR process and its disconnect from the medical center’s IT plans. Discussion Questions: 1. What is your assessment of this situation? What are the physician group’s possible reasons for deciding to proceed on an independent path? 2. If you were the CEO, what steps would you take to bring the hospital and physician group IT plans back into alignment? Should the EHR effort proceed or wait until the CPOE initiative is complete? Should you require that both systems come from the same vendor? Explain your rationale. 3. The LWMC board is concerned that the physicians are being naive about the challenges of EHR implementation, have established no measurable goals for the system, and have only weak incentives to make the implementation successful. How would you address these concerns? |
