Common Healthcare IT Project Mistakes That Lead to Suboptimal Outcomes

by Richard ‘RJ’ Kedziora

How do you define project failure? Is it when the project costs more than the original budget? Is it when the delivery date is long past and the project is still incomplete? Or is failure defined by a completed project that does not fulfill the agreed-on requirements?

Maybe it’s all three. While every healthcare IT project is unique, the mistakes that cause failure are not.

Here are five common mistakes made throughout the process of designing and developing a healthcare IT project and simple tips to ensure that your team doesn’t follow in the wrong footsteps.

Poor planning

Healthcare IT projects can be set to fail before they even begin if they don’t have a clearly defined plan to follow. According to a JAMIA review of healthcare IT projects, “as few as one in eight information technology projects is considered truly successful, with more than half overshooting budgets and timetables and still not delivering what was promised.”

The project manager should take the role of making sure that every member of the team is in agreement on the scope, deliverables, schedule, methodology, roles and responsibilities, and change management practices. It is not uncommon for plans to change, so having well-documented procedures for change management will help the new requirements flow seamlessly with the rest of the plan, decreasing the chance of failure.

Log in below to access this content: