Easy steps towards a sane IT policy in hospitals

TL;DR

This paper advocates for hospital department heads to hire IT staff directly and offers policy advice to improve hospital IT efficiency, aiming to reduce costs and enhance service quality.

Contribution

It introduces a practical approach for hospitals to improve IT policy by decentralizing hiring and provides guidance for incentivizing department heads.

Findings

Potential for measurable efficiency improvements

Reduction in public resource waste

Positive externalities from improved IT management

Abstract

We witnessed the low quality of IT solutions in Paris hospitals. The price paid to private companies for these solutions and the cost incurred from their inefficiency constitute a gross and appalling waste of public resources. We propose to bootstrap a change in IT policy by having heads of department hire IT workers ; we give advice to the central decision making body on how to incentivize them. Easily measurable efficiency gains as well as hard-to-quantify positive externalities will follow.