2. Win Phillips, Ph.D

3. Win Phillips, Ph.D. Clinical Assistant Professor University of Missouri Columbia, MO

4. Formulating IS strategy requires assessment of information systems capabilities – Meeting information needs of company – Current system functionality, use, capacity, limits – Assess feasibility of current and future business strategy – Foundation for planning needed improvements

5.  IS/IT staff involvement  IS/IT management internal assessment  External party may avoid political concerns and conflict of interest problems  Consultants routinely do “technology audits” and “due diligence” assessments, especially in context of mergers/acquisitions

6.  IT Infrastructure – Business, Financial, Clinical  Hardware  Software  Networking  Interfaces / Interoperability / Integration  Standardization  Management of technology life cycle  Scalability

7.  IS Staff Quantity and roles, competence, skill-sets, certifications, career-paths, training, distribution through enterprise, adequacy Staff turnover  Clinical and business staff Technical competence Training levels, programs, needs

8.  IS-related processes and routines throughout enterprise  Efficiency and compliance issues  Management reporting  Financial/billing/reimbursement  Clinical services  Quality and performance – improved outcomes, reduced medical errors, etc.  Scalability / capacity

9. Management and organization of IS department Role of IS management and staff distributed throughout enterprise IS systems outside of IS department Relations with medical records, other areas Communication, leadership Experience, expertise, competence

10.  IS policies concerning acceptable use, security, compliance reporting, operational procedures, purchasing, development, etc.  IS governance  Documented, taught, promulgated, known, followed  Process for policy creation and change

11.  Physical location  Technology  Policies  People and practices  Training  Power supply, redundancy, backup, and disaster recovery  Regulatory compliance  Monitoring and audit trails

12.  Risk assessment  Risk management  Security risks  Financial risks  Human resources risks  Technology risks

13.  Regulatory compliance  Licenses for software  Lease arrangements  Outsourcing arrangements  Short-term and long-term contracts

14.  Funding of projects  Financing of operations  Short-term and long-term obligations  Budget  IT as cost-center or profit-center, ROI, value to organization

15.  Current projects, progress  Future projects  Project management and oversight

16.  Systems development and implementation process  Defined methodology  Project management  System selection

17.  Technology partners may offer opportunities  Management of suppliers, service providers, vendor relations, contracts

18.  Strategic planning (long-term)  Operations planning (short-term)  IS/IT Department, CIO, as part of senior management

19.  Industry best practices  Is technology state-of-the-art?  Quality reporting  Information/knowledge managed as an asset  Perception and reputation of IS/IT throughout organization  User/staff satisfaction  Patient satisfaction

20.  What are current IS strengths?  What are current IS weaknesses?  Short-term and long-terms consequences of weaknesses and deficiencies  Opportunities afforded by strengths

21. In this session, we reviewed the many dimensions and elements of the assessment of the internal environment in order to thoroughly understand the organizations strengths and weaknesses and to have the information to position it to achieve its mission.