Linking Informatics and Change Management

Abstract

The changes we will see in our healthcare systems over the next 10 years will make us someday reminisce about the past decade as the relatively stable “good old days.”While we will continue to see new drugs, new devices, and new techniques introduced at a rapid pace, the true megachanges will center on gathering, managing, and using clinical information—including whole new types of information unavailable to today’s clinicians. This megachange will affect all the areas of health care—administrative, clinical, teaching, and research. The true reengineering of our healthcare information management infrastructure is only in its early stages. Even more dramatic changes lie ahead for the various roles and responsibilities within healthcare systems. These changes will be driven by the requirements for improved access to health care, the expectation of quality health care provided at lower cost, the development of vertically and horizontally integrated delivery systems, the increased emphasis upon wellness, and the transition to medicine based on an understanding of the human genome.¹