Technology Innovation in a Small Rural Hospital

Abstract

This case study illustrates how the leaders of a small, rural hospital were able to successfully introduce and institutionalize a strategic change in information technologies. Our work briefly reviews strategic change leadership and common theories of innovation and governance. We then present a case study investigating how a hospital’s top management team used managerial discretion to create and institutionalize a strategic information technology (IT) innovation.

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Healthcare

“…Nine studies were identified for the review (Akiyama, 2007;Botta-Genoulaz & Millet, 2006;Danas, Roudsari, & Ketikidis, 2006;Dewitt & Hampton, 2005;McGinnis, Pumphrey, Trimmer, & Wiggins, 2004;Pan & Pokharel, 2007;Sammon & Adam, 2008;Stefanou & Revanoglou, 2006;Trimmer, Pumphrey, & Wiggins, 2002). Analysis of the scope of the studies included their design (research setting), type and field of study, environment of the study, and the country where the research was conducted (Table 1).…”

“…This visionary strategy was potentially risky because the hospital committed itself to developing a new competency not commonly found in this region. However, the new strategy was designed to anticipate future client needs rather than respond to a specific marketplace challenge" (McGinnis, et al, 2004) There should be a single business owner who is accountable for the decisions, timeline, budget, and deliverables. (Dewitt & Hampton, 2005) Project organization Institutions plan for and fund the full scope of services and place those resources in one organization.…”

“…Staff with IT functional education, that are difficult for the hospital recruit, are used primarily in analysis and implementation roles. Therefore, the hospital has taken a more proactive human resource approach, and develops staff with business related knowledge" (McGinnis, et al, 2004) Attract highly skilled resources to establish and maintain support structures for the ERP in-use; (Sammon & Adam, 2008) Allocate adequate numbers of skilled and knowledgeable resources to a project full-time (Sammon & Adam, 2008) It is very important to have quality employees involved in the selection and implementation of the ERP system (Trimmer, et al, 2002) Top management's role Project manager should be supported by an advisory group. (Dewitt & Hampton, 2005) Badly supported by the top management (Sammon & Adam, 2008) • Primary causes of failure results from a lack of understanding of what ERP involves and a failure to prepare adequately (Sammon & Adam, 2008) • Strategy and leadership among top managers is emphasized (McGinnis, et al, 2004) • Ensure that well-defined business requirements are communicated and understood by the business; (Sammon & Adam, 2008)…”

ERP Systems in Hospitals

“…Hospitals require integral systems which permit the planning of procedures to be applied to patients, while simultaneously analyzing the required capacity (Merodea et al, 2004). In this area, several studies have already been conducted, such as those of Rubin (1999), Trimmer et al (2002) and McGinnis et al (2004). Rubin (1999) analyzed the use of ERP systems for improving the process of materials management in hospitals, and described the success represented by the integration of the whole supply chain in one single system.…”

“…The results indicate that support for the continuing use of critical success factors help focus on the benefits of ERPs. McGinnis et al (2004) present the case of a small, rural community hospital that has successfully implemented a sophisticated ERP system.…”