Health Informatics Services
Many communities have responded to the increasing pressures
on IM&T services by exploring the potential of managing services
on a larger scale. This approach can provide economies of scale,
and greater flexibility in how resources are deployed. The
typical rationale for this approach is that movement to a larger
scale Health Informatics Service will help to minimise the extra
investment needed in IM&T rather than an expectation of
financial savings for the stakeholder organisations.
Establishing a whole community Health Informatics Service is
a complex change process. Initially the process of evaluating
the current service may not be clear: there will probably be
many stakeholders who will start from different viewpoints; and
there may not be an effective mechanism for conducting the
evaluation, and for making decisions.
The evaluation and decision process must be transparent, and
it must address stakeholders’ concerns about maintaining and
improving service levels whilst minimising risk. The process can
get bogged down in discussions of current problems and past
experiences; so it will be helpful to make a clear separation
between these and the focus on making changes in order to move
forward. Financial pressures will make agreement over the
mechanisms for funding and ensuring value for money particularly
important.
Stakeholders in each of the organisations involved - for
example, executives, IM&T service heads, and IM&T staff - will
have different perspectives and interests. These groups need to
be moved forward in parallel, as issues originating in one group
may surface via another. Effective communications and robust HR
processes are essential, and must be synchronised throughout the
process. We have worked with several health communities to
implement Health Informatics Services, including Merseyside and
Surrey.
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