Evaluating Benefits and Return on Investment (ROI) for Clinical Information Systems

Evaluating Benefits and Return on Investment (ROI) for Clinical Information Systems

Special Issue: Impacts of Information Technology Investment on Organizational Performance
Journal of Management Information Systems, 16(4), Spring 2000.
This special issue addresses a subject of much debate among interested researchers: the relationships between organizational investment in information technology (IT) and organizational performance and productivity. Despite the enormous investment in IT during recent years, demonstrating the effects of such investment on organizational performance has proven extremely difficult.
Information Technology Payoff in the Health-Care Industry: A Longitudinal Study
Journal of Management Information Systems, 16(4), Spring 2000
Studies examining the IT-performance relationship have been far from conclusive. The difficulty in identifying impacts from technology has been the isolation of IT benefits from other factors that contribute to organizational performance. Furthermore, benefits from technology investments may be realized over an extended period of time. Finally, IT benefits may accrue when they are done in concert with other organizational initiatives such as business process reengineering. This calls for studies that take into account control variables as well as data that span time periods.
The Elusive Nature of Delivering Benefits from IT Investment
The Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 3(1); March 2000.
Senior management have begun to insist that more attention be paid to the economic aspects of information systems than ever before and this has lead to an increasing demand for a comprehensive and reliable IT performance evaluation. Unfortunately, measuring and managing IT benefits is a difficult business challenge which has plagued the IT industry, IT professionals, consultants and academics, for many years despite the considerable amount of research conducted. So far no comprehensive or rigorous economics of information has been developed. By economics of information is meant a systematic series of concepts and theories that explain the role which information and information systems play in assisting individuals or organizations in their conception, production and delivery of goods and services both in the private and public services. The view which practitioners often tried to assert was that relatively speaking IT expenditure was low and should be seen as an 'act of faith'. If this view was ever a reasonable one, it is certainly no longer the case as IT investment has become an increasingly important part of corporate capital expenditure.
Measuring the benefit of performance improvement and decision support
Rosenstein AH. Am J Med Qual 1999 Nov-Dec;14(6):262-9
In an effort to provide high quality care in a more cost-effective manner, health care providers have found it necessary to implement a series of decision support strategies designed to improve outcomes of care. While each of these strategies has measurable benefits, each comes along with additional costs. A return-on-investment methodology is used to assess the financial impact of service-related operating expenses compared to revenue gains from service delivery. However, unlike traditional return-on-investment models, in health care, benefits are frequently gained from cost avoidance rather than from revenue enhancement activities. This article describes a methodology for measuring the direct and indirect costs and qualitative and quantitative benefits of decision support activities.
Enhancing the financial performance of a health system laboratory network using an information system.
Workman RD, Lewis MJ, Hill BT. Am J Clin Pathol 2000 Jul;114(1):9-15
We describe the improvements created by successful implementation of a laboratory information system for a multi-institutional integrated delivery system, including an analysis of the financial results. Conditions at the outset of the project, methods of management and project design, selected aspects of services redesign and consolidation, integration of services among the sites and their effects on laboratory staff and productivity are illustrated. A method for and example of measuring the financial outcomes in the sense of quantifiable improvements in operating expenses and new revenue for a whole health system clinical laboratory computer system are discussed.
How To Analyze The Benefits And Return On Investment Of A Perioperative Information System
The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology, 4(3); September 2000.
In health care, information systems are not a commodity that is sold to the patient. There are no billable services and thus no direct income. The inherent benefit of an information system is indirect—it is a tool to improve patient care.
Ambulatory Electronic Records Implementation Cost Benefit: An Enterprise Case Study
The implementation approach for the electronic ambulatory record, with special focus on the cost benefit segment is examined via review of the enterprise cost benefit parameters developed and reporting of the actual results experienced and of the model developed for use in on-going implementation.
Establishing a Business Case for EMR
The economics of healthcare are changing dramatically. Healthcare providers are increasingly challenged to continuously improve the productivity of their practices even as they must spend more time documenting and reporting on the care they deliver. They must effectively meet the often conflicting demands of payors, regulators, and patients.
Deriving Value from the EMR
A powerpoint presentation that covers "Why one should assess the value of an EMR? A framework for characterizing this benefit, and Methods for deriving value"

Please send links to other reports on evaluating the benefits and/or return on investment (ROI) for clinical information systems to: benefits@informatics-review.com