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CIO Perspective
Can IT Yield Clinical Efficiencies?
Clinical system implementations are complex and rushing through them can result in
negative impacts. Ensure that the efficiency measures are clear and translate directly to
the desired benefits. By Indranil (Neal) Ganguly, CHCIO, FHIMSS, FCHIME
Neal Ganguly is vice president
& CIO, CentraState
Healthcare System, Freehold,
NJ, and an Executive
Insight editorial advisory
board member.
The passing of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) legislation
created a major focus on the clinical application
side of information technology. From
Medicare and Medicaid incentives for electronic
health record deployment to the explosion of
health information exchanges (HIEs), clinical information
technology projects have dominated
the HIT landscape over the last few years.
Clearly, the rush to implement applications
in order to qualify for federal incentive funds
has been great for the vendor and consulting
communities. Providers, however, face potential
risks in terms of lost productivity and more,
from rushed implementations. Extensive planning
and frontline engagement in the selection
and implementation of IT projects can result in
measurable benefits, but organizations must stay
focused on true drivers for technology implementation
in order to avoid “paper benefits.” The
following are brief examples of clinical information
technology projects that were put in place to
realize certain goals.
Online nursing documentation templates
and workflows implemented to reduce the
time required to complete an admis-
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