A strategic approach for business-IT alignment in health information systems

Abstract

Health Information Systems (IIIS) are required to flexibly support complex clinical processes involving multiple user groups at different locations throughout a healthcare organization. Healthcare processes, however, are subject to change. A "responsive IT infrastructure" is required as a basis for rapid and effective business-IT alignment. In this article we describe the conditions (available products and standards) under which a strategy for system evolution is to be defined. A strategy based on an application framework and an integrated CASE tool has been elaborated and established at the university hospital in Marburg. Based on XP (extreme programming) and participatory design the software engineering process has been adapted and embedded into a continuous management process in which IT projects are prioritized according to current business needs. The goal is to minimize project risk and to achieve a continuously evolving information system which is driven by the actual needs for process improvement. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.