CastleCops® - Healthcare Productivity Hit By Poor IT Integration

webitpr writes "Misconceptions about cost and disruption are barriers to modernisation

London, April 18, 2005 - Survey results released today illustrate that, despite the progress of the Connecting for Health initiative (formerly the National Programme for IT), significant improvement is required to educate healthcare IT professionals about how their existing systems can be integrated to support the new initiatives in the short, medium and in some cases long term.

The survey, commissioned by WRQ®, a privately held software company, discovered that two thirds (67%) of IT professionals from healthcare organisations rate the integration of legacy applications* as either, ‘essential’ or ‘valuable’. However, the research also revealed that of this 67%, less than half (44%) indicated that they were currently in the process of integrating their legacy systems. This demonstrates that there is an ongoing need for organisations to be appraised of the ease of unlocking the potential of information found in legacy systems.

The findings point to the fact that legacy systems are still critical and will frequently continue to be so. The opportunity to unlock legacy data and integrate processes represents tremendous value, particularly for budget-constrained public sector organisations. With the right strategy and software, these can easily be integrated with newer initiatives and applications, ultimately providing improved quality of care for patients.

The survey highlights that there is also room for productivity improvements across the healthcare sector with almost a quarter (22%) of respondents stating that accessing green-screen legacy applications is currently a time consuming process. More than a quarter (26%) went on to comment that the average time spent by healthcare workers each day accessing information via green-screen terminals is in excess of two hours.

Paul O’Connell, head of WRQ UK, comments: “The fact that 65% of respondents stated that they are looking to either extend the life of their legacy systems, or integrate their legacy systems with new solutions, highlights just how important these are. Yet it is disconcerting to note that of those who have not already integrated their applications, nearly half (46%) have a fear of the disruption and slightly less (42%) have a fear of cost. Organisations simply need to know how to unlock the potential of their legacy systems as it’s a much more cost-effective option when compared to ripping out and replacing them. With this approach, healthcare organisations can more readily and rapidly embrace the potential returns of the Connecting for Health programme.”

O’Connell concludes: “As an accountable public sector body, it is imperative for the healthcare industry to be seen as delivering an efficient and effective service to its customers; that is, the general public. However, the reality of ever-declining budgets means that the healthcare sector must be creative in its attempts to execute new initiatives in the fastest way possible. We must continue in our attempts to close the knowledge gap, particularly in light of the Connecting for Health programme. This will ensure that healthcare organisations in the UK take maximum advantage of the tools that are available to them to access legacy information and, ultimately, to deliver real value for money.” "


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