Analysing IS/IT Governance in Healthcare.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In today's healthcare environment, information systems/information technology (IS/IT) are being touted as enablers for enhancing hospitals' performance. Hence, healthcare organisations are investing heavily in IS/IT. To date however, these investments show minimal tangible and quantifiable benefits and thus return on investment is often questioned. the literature highlights that IT governance is a key factor that needs to be considered to attain the full benefits from IT investments and the realisation of a solid return on investment. BACKGROUND: This study examines IS/IT governance structures and practices in healthcare contexts to build an integrative model that assists identification of the needs and requirements for various stakeholders in the context of healthcare. In addition, it also addresses the contextual conditions that currently affect the existing IS/IT governance structures and various control measure. METHOD: The study focuses on the case of an Australian not-for-profit tertiary healthcare environment. It is predominately qualitative as this approach enables conducting in-depth studies about a broad range of topics with greater latitude in selecting topics of interest. Data were collected by conducting 31 semi-structured interviews in the selected case. Iterative thematic analyses were performed on the collected data to identify a priori and emerging themes. RESULTS: The results suggest that robust IS/IT governance structures that cover various IT projects from initiation of projects to gaining value from these projects are increasingly needed to manage the growing IS/IT portfolios in healthcare contexts. Different factors were found to affect the IS/IT governance covering people, process, and technology aspects. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study provide evidence to support the perspective that maintaining robust IT governance has positive impacts on the business value of different IS/IT in healthcare. Further, this study highlights several requirements for IT governance.