B1:    Organizational readiness for clinical information technologies: culture, change management, and evaluation

Bonnie Kaplan PhD. Lecturer, Yale School Of Medicine’s Center for Medical Informatics; Senior Scientist, Boston University’s Medical Information Systems Unit; President of Kaplan Associates (USA)

Target level: BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATES

Medical informaticians have been working for half a century to develop applications to improve clinical care. Unfortunately, about 50% of technically sound systems founder on staff revolt, boycott, sabotage, or dissatisfaction. Success with information systems, therefore, depends as much on organizational concerns as on technical excellence. Organizational culture, professional values, work practices, change management and effective leadership are crucial.

This tutorial emphasizes social, behavioural, and organizational considerations to realize benefits of information technology for health care. The presentation will draw on a substantial body of theory, empirical evidence, personal experience, and case histories of actual implementations. This material will be used to explain and illustrate key concerns for planning, implementing, and evaluating information systems. Participants will have opportunities to present situations in their organizations and discuss effective strategies for addressing them.

Topics will include:

• models of change
• organizational environment and culture
• strategies for change
• barriers and resistance
• planning and designing evaluations
• case studies

Who Should Attend:

Health care professionals; administrators; information systems personnel and consultants; medical informatics faculty; and anyone who is implementing, planning, or evaluating information and communication technologies.