Sustainability, Partnership, and Teamwork in Health IT Implementation

Build Trust Between Partners
Trust between partners and/or prior experience working together helped support successful
collaboration and reduced concerns around privacy and confidentiality of patient data. One grantee
indicated that “existing relationships were more important than cost contributions” to the success
of their project. Moreover, rural grantees—who were significantly more successful at sustaining
partnerships with all partners than their urban counterparts—partially attributed their success to
their tight-knit provider communities.
Grantees without existing collaborative relationships experienced more difficulties establishing data
sharing agreements and plans for fee schedules. A grantee explained that competitive dynamics
between clinics caused “discussions around money to devolve rapidly.”
Setting up a process for continued formal and informal interaction where all partners can have their
opinions shared in a neutral environment helped some grantees build trust within partnerships. One
partnership involving competing clinics that drew patients from the same pool instituted a formal
governing structure with voting rules to overcome competitive dynamics.
Seek Guidance From a Neutral Organization Not Involved in Patient Care
Partnerships involving a nondelivery organization, such as a professional association, health IT
vendor, and/or consultant, were significantly more sustainable than partnerships without these
organizations involved. One grantee indicated that involving an external organization can encourage
patient care delivery organizations to participate in HIE because they feel the project is not controlled
by the lead organization.
How Did Partnerships Impact Health IT
Implementation? 8
All grantees interviewed indicated that the partnership aspect of their project was important to its
success. They reported that the partnerships facilitated implementation by reducing the financial
burden of health IT, providing opportunities for shared learning, and facilitating health information
exchange.
Reducing the Financial Burden of Health IT
Partners shared resources for health IT implementation and ongoing maintenance, redistributing the
financial burden many patient care delivery organizations face when implementing technology across
a larger number of organizations. Grantees reported that small patient care delivery organizations
benefited most often from shared human resources: they gained access to health IT support staff
either by hiring a staff member who was shared between small organizations or by receiving technical
support from larger, well-resourced partners.
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This section focuses on the partnerships of planning and implementation grantees because they were formed for the
purpose of implementation, whereas the value partnerships were formed for evaluation.
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Chapter 4. Other Cross-Organizational Partnerships for Health IT Implementation