HealthManagement, Volume 13, Issue 2/2011
EAHM's "Working Party Hospital IT-Managers" has sprung into action. Members met recently in Brussels and finalised arrangements for IT workshops to take place in September. These actions are the first direct result of last year's reflection process, where the association realised the increasing importance and potential of IT in the healthcare sector.
Quality through sharing experiences and best practice was one of the four main topics put forward during the reflection process, not only on the top level of Europe but all around Europe through regional activities. For some time, members within EAHM observed that information technology (IT) is advancing in hospitals, its importance is growing and its impact is getting more and more crucial on all levels in the hospital. But for many hospital managers, IT experts can sound like they are speaking another language. And vice versa, understanding the needs of a hospital and the processes running a hospital is a challenge for IT staff. In order to make the right decisions on the information sources and services in their hospitals, hospital managers need to be more informed. Sharing experiences and best practice in this field and bridging the gap between general hospital management and IT, this is where the "Working Party IT-Managers" and the organised workshops come in.
The official aim of the Working Party is to aid the EAHM in the realisation of its objectives in the field of information management and technology. It is within the association's mandate to promote the professional competence and responsibility of managers and senior employees in hospital and public health management in European countries, including IT.
IT in this sense means information and medical technology for inpatient and outpatient services. This includes areas such as IT facility management, interfacing medical technology, security policies, training and standardisation.
An important strategy to realise the bridge between the world of hospital management and IT is "business IT alignment in hospitals", says Dr. Pierre-Michael Meier, President of the Working Party.
And in realising this bridge, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) play an important role. For this reason, activities are targeting both Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in European Hospitals.
For CEOs, the goals of the Working Party are to promote the transition from hospital strategies to IT strategies, on the development of IT master plans and ensuring that the objectives of the IT master plan are obtained.
For CIOs the focus is on the promotion of knowledge about management methods and practices and human resources management. From a technological point of view, the focus lies on interoperability within intra- and inter- organisational IT landscapes and on the integration of medical devices into ITlandscapes, including managerial aspects like risk management.
EAHM is pleased to announce that the first regional seminar for CEOs will take place on September 15-16 in Vienna (in German). Seminars in French and English will follow at a later date. The workshop for CIOs will take place on 29-30 September in Brussels. This workshop will be on a European level and will take place in English.
Members of the Working Party Hospital IT-Managers
President: Pierre-Michael Meier (DE)
Mik Horswell (UK)
Gunther Kostka (BE)
Christian Marolt (BE)
Christophe Nardin (LU)
Irenijus Puotkalis (LT)
Willy Heuschen
Jos Vanlanduyt
For more information: [email protected]
