CIOs Uncensored: Successful IT: A CIO's PrimerCIOs Uncensored: Successful IT: A CIO's Primer

In the health care world, we face challenges to increase efficiency and trim costs, improve the quality and safety of service, and respond to increasingly complex regulations. At the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, we've successfully applied technology solutions to improve the business and clinical process. Here are some examples of what UPMC does to ensure that technology projects are a success.

Find the right technology partner. In addition to seeking a partner that can deliver best-in-class products and services, UPMC wants partners that share a vision and commitment to addressing critical issues facing the health care industry. Also, relationships aren't created with vendors--they're developed with individuals. Learn who makes a difference and build relationships with them.

Get board and executive approval. At UPMC, every large enterprise IT project is reviewed with executive management and approved by the IT Committee of the board. External, third-party research firms are engaged to validate the project, projected goals, and outcomes. If project direction changes, the board and management are immediately informed.

Obtain, engage, and maintain business-unit buy-in and ongoing support of the project. Clinicians and technologists work side by side solving problems at UPMC. We get to the root of the problem because the clinician lives it daily and understands the challenges and impacts within UPMC. Technologists then build the solution to meet those daily demands.

If the clinical leadership doesn't value the vendor, then it's difficult to make the compromises that are needed to keep an implementation moving forward. If it's the clinicians' relationship, they want to make it work. There are always trade-offs on each side in these complex implementations and often the clinical workflow is directly affected.

Follow a comprehensive and detailed strategy. Ownership of the strategy is key. This means that resources are not overcommitted and the partners understand the commitment and the details of implementation. Always insist on detailed project reviews and client approvals before proceeding. The delivery organization must be accountable for execution and client satisfaction.

Have a good exit strategy. You have to be fluid and decisive; don't be afraid to cut your losses if necessary. Our exit strategies are different for each situation. Having a level of oversight that can detect problems is the key. Contracts should be written to allow projects to be shut down at various phases. It's a shared commitment going in to the engagement, based on your due diligence and the vendor's.

Communicate, communicate, communicate. We benchmark and compare our progress against stated time lines and goals. By executive reports, dashboards, and presentations, the progress of the project is continually communicated throughout the entire process.

Dan Drawbaugh is the CIO of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Share your thoughts at our blog, CIOs Uncensored.