Health Information Management: Integrating Information Technology ...

156 DEVELOPING THE INFORMATION STRATEGY
functionally to the Information Manager. Their expertise lies primarily in the
field of their own work processes, alongside which they are trained in relevant
information systems and information management skills, such as process
analysis and documentation of the administrative organization. The impact of their
information management activities is primarily local, within their own type of
work processes. With the increase in importance of information systems for the
progress of all business processes, the number of key-users will rise
correspondingly. Every work unit, for example an outpatient clinic, must have
one or more key-users.
Second line support are employees centrally placed in the IM department, with
a tactical/operational information management task. The characteristics for a
second line support employee are the following. Information management is a
full-time assignment for them, requiring 100 per cent of their time, and they report
both functionally and hierarchically to the Information Manager. Their expertise
lies primarily in the field of IT, the knowledge of relevant information systems
and information management skills. The impact of their information
management activities is central. They administer the root files which determine
the arrangement/operations of the information systems, they coordinate the work
processes which transcend the organization unit, and they provide second line
advice on the information systems.
Where tactical/operational information management is primarily carried out
locally for a specific work process, often in centres (for example the patient
administration office, the medical coding department), or in specialized
departments (for example laboratories, or billing department), the assignment is
often full-time, and the expertise in IT is larger. However the impact of
information management activity in these centres is local, remaining within the
boundaries of the centre’s work processes. This type of tactical/operational
information employee is often known as an application administrator (of the
laboratory system, or the pathology system, etc.).
Technical support are centrally placed employees within the IM department.
They carry out the technical management of the hardware components as part of
the information management. This refers to the network, the central servers, the
clients, the operating systems and the database management system.
Key-users and second line support together perform the tactical/operational
information management, under the leadership of the information manager. They
carry active responsibility for the continuous harmonization between the work
processes and the information systems, in a tactical/operational sense. Issues
which transcend the organization unit, or which require the adaptation of the
work processes or the information systems, are presented to the strategic/tactical
information management.