McKesson - Performance Strategies

Capacity Demands and Limited Resources Require
Hard IT Choices

By Pete Mounts
Vice President/General Manager
McKesson Managed Services™
McKesson Corporation

Stimulus Funding Drives Change
Healthcare institutions of every size are facing one very important question: where do I spend scarce resources in the face of unprecedented financial and regulatory demands?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 already has accelerated the implementation of advanced clinical systems to achieve meaningful use and set the stage to qualify for stimulus funds. From small community hospitals to major academic medical centers, institutions are developing highly aggressive implementation schedules to achieve meaningful use and ensure they aren't penalized for not meeting milestones.

This intense focus is placing strains on IT systems that are already being stretched to the limit. Every institution is dealing with capacity issues. They are asking themselves: Do we have enough people, and do they have the right skills? Will our infrastructure support the data demands of an increasing number of users operating bandwidth-intensive applications such as CPOE and PACS?

Hospitals need upgraded data centers and specialists available at the right place and the right time. Finding the money to pay for these upgrades is challenging at a time when margins are thin.

Getting to Meaningful Use
Hospitals know that meaningful use is far more than just system implementation. It isn't just about going live. It requires that physicians, nurses and clinicians are using the system in a manner that supports and helps improve the way care is delivered.

To confront these challenges, institutions are turning to managed services vendors. Large managed services vendors are able to leverage experienced resources and provide them to a wide variety of institutions at a level of service the hospitals might not be able to achieve on their own. In essence, these industry players are building systems for many users rather than just one.

As the CIO at a major urban medical center told me recently, it doesn't make sense to focus so much of time and resources on building data centers when organizations should be working with physicians and nurses in promoting adoption and use of their clinical systems.

Freeing the institution to concentrate on its core mission is perhaps the most important reason that healthcare institutions are being drawn to this model. Whether the company is providing remote hosting of applications or the personnel to speed up a solution rollout, the needs of customers and the resources of the vendor can be easily and seamlessly meshed.

The IT departments of hospitals need access to:

More personnel

Knowledge resources

Infrastructure to support mission-critical applications

Changing Demand
Outsourcing IT services enables an institution to navigate the peaks and valleys that are an inevitable part of the healthcare IT process.

By engaging experienced resources that match a project's expertise requirements, organizations can achieve optimum results, often in an accelerated manner. The institution isn't forced to carry excess personnel during slack periods, but know that the specialized skills they need will be there when they need them.

Who do you Choose?
In reality the most important decision after "what services do I need," is "which provider is right for me?"

For healthcare organizations, the choices are often between software vendors or service firms. While both have their advantages, marketplace experience is showing that organizations find the greatest satisfaction when they partner with their solution and application provider.

The complexity of software for the healthcare environment demands specialized knowledge to be successful. According to a KLAS press release¹ about its January 2010 report, Application Hosting: Offloading Risk and Cost?, "...services firms offer the breadth to host a variety of applications but often deliver lower customer satisfaction than software vendors, while the software vendors deliver better performance but typically host only their own solutions."

Following are important questions to ask before selecting a managed services vendor.

Do you want to outsource management of infrastructure and software applications?

Does the vendor with the largest footprint of software solutions at your organization offer
managed services?

Does the vendor have experience in managing applications in the healthcare environment?

Outsourcing management of your applications and IT functions is one of the most important decisions you make. The selection provides the expertise and resources to ensure reliability and availability of applications and infrastructure that support the safe care of your patients. You need a trusted partner who understands your mission and can contribute to your success.

Pete Mounts is Vice President/General Manager for McKesson Managed Services™ at McKesson Provider Technologies. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including 18 years at McKesson Corporation in a variety of roles.

¹KLAS press release: "Hosting Healthcare Applications Creates Benefits but Requires Compromises," January 27, 2010.


	Strategic Vision – Does the vendor have a vision to help customers progress from their current solution path? The vision should move your organization to industry-leading technology and services that will improve your total cost of ownership and reduce overall risk. Solution Footprint at Your Organization – The managed services vendor that also provides the largest number of your software applications will bring the expertise to optimize, manage and upgrade these systems. Expert Resources – Does this provider have expertise in the healthcare business and delivery of care? How many resources are in the organization? More resources can mean a wider variety of expertise. Do they assign experts based on the task and their expertise, or is one expert expected to provide all of your services? Customer Loyalty – Ask for references from customers that are using the type of service you want to contract for — for example, IT outsourcing. Service Level – After determining the service level you need, ensure they can provide that level of service. Don't assume; get a detailed list of services and document service and availability levels – time periods, coverage, etc. What are the disaster recovery plans, and are they sufficient for your mission-critical applications? Vendor Track Record – Know how long the vendor has been providing managed services and how long it has been in business. Account Management – Establish what types of reports they will provide and how often. Are there recurring meetings to keep you up on the current status of projects? Shared Goals – Are your business goals understood and expectations aligned? Are there metrics to ensure that the vendor is meeting your goals? Security – What are the safeguards related to controlling access to data and data sharing within the vendor organization? Do they have procedures related to HIPAA requirements? Cost vs. Value – When evaluating the true cost of a vendor's services, you need to evaluate more than the price. All of the items listed above play a role. Any one of them can devalue the services you are receiving and raise the true cost if you don't have the reliability, expertise or service level you expect.


	Accelerated Services SystemCare^sm Service IT Outsourcing Data Center Solutions

	Outsourcing its IT services has enabled Oconee to revamp its infrastructure, helping it improve daily workflow, streamline data sharing and implement a community EHR.

	Faced with a lack of local IT talent, Winter Haven Hospital engaged outside expertise for numerous implementations and upgrades planned to qualify for stimulus funds.

	Saint Francis Medical Center uses IT support services to supplement internal resources, improve quality and upgrade clinical infrastructure for stimulus funding in 2012.

	Today's complex technology environment demands higher levels of technical expertise, experience and resources. Organizations are moving to managed services to cope.
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