Hospital Information Systems Planning.

Abstract Successful management of large data processing projects requires that strategic project decisions be done early during the planning stages of the project. The effect of absent or poor planning decisions is typically felt during the development and implementation phases when such decisions may be found either irreversible or too costly to correct. As a consequence, the data processing projects may be delivered with high cost overruns and be inefficient or unreliable to operate. This situation is of particular concern to health care organizations which traditionally have highly complex information processing functions and high requirements on data quality. First in the five-part series, this paper reviews the fundamental issues involved in HIS planning and describes a general methodology for derivation of planning information, on which the strategic HIS decisions can be rationally founded. Parts 2, 3 and 4, to be released at a later date, will focus more specifically on methods, techniques and quantitative tools for developing functional, technical and management plans. Part 5, an abbreviated case study, will illustrate the described planning process by developing a long-range, HIS automation plan using “live” data in the setting of a metropolitan, acute-care hospital.