Health systems have handed a growing share of their IT work to outside vendors this year. Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health is outsourcing its IT service desk and applications support, and West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health is eliminating 207 IT roles as it shifts IT functions to Accenture.
Even those deals come with limits. When Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth said in July it would move several IT support services to Tech Mahindra and its U.S.-based healthcare subsidiary, The HCI Group, the system said it would continue to set IT strategy, make technology decisions and oversee cybersecurity.
Becker’s asked health system technology leaders where they draw that line with outside vendors.
“I’m comfortable outsourcing capabilities, capacity and commodity work. What I would not outsource is our technology strategy, architecture and accountability for technology decisions,” said Reid Stephan, senior vice president and CIO of Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke’s Health System. “A partner can bring experience and expertise, but they don’t have the same understanding of our patients, clinicians, operations, culture and long-term strategy. We need to own the decisions about where technology takes the organization, even when others help us get there.”
Keith Rivera joined Omaha-based Nebraska Medicine as vice president and CIO in June after serving as CIO of Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, N.M. He said he has outsourced service desk, desktop services, data center, and applications.
“I would never outsource strategic partnership with clinicians, researchers, and operational leaders. Technology decisions in healthcare directly impact patient care, caregiver experience, and organizational strategy,” Mr. Rivera said. “Desktop services must be local so not always beneficial to use 3rd party for day-to-day work vs. project work to help teams flex and scale. I would outsource low-value tactical work to focus on higher-value initiatives and services.”
Sha Edathumparampil, chief digital and information officer of Coral Gables, Fla.-based Baptist Health South Florida, said he has trouble finding a good reason to outsource accountability for any critical technology his health system depends on.
“Some areas are especially sensitive, including cybersecurity, resilience and business continuity, enterprise architecture, clinical informatics, and close provider support,” he said. “Decisions and changes in these areas tend to have an immediate effect on patient experience, our ability to keep caring for patients during a disruption, and the daily work of our physicians and nurses.”
“Culture and a personal stake in the outcome are important considerations. Culture is hard to pass on to an outside organization that has its own. And in most health systems, the people doing this work are part of the community they serve. They live here, and their families are patients themselves. When a system goes down, it affects their own care and their neighbors’ care. That sense of ownership is hard to replicate in a team that doesn’t share that connection,” Mr. Edathumparampil said.
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