In a recent Healthcare IT News article, Pivot Point Advisory expert Joe Clemons, alongside other industry experts, discusses the importance of effective systems integration in finance IT implementation. Other industry experts also weigh in on implementation best practices.
Effective Systems Integration Is Essential
Elsewhere in the finance IT implementation arena, if a healthcare CIO is planning to implement a financial system, it is important for him or her to understand that integration with third-party systems will be a large portion of the effort, said Joseph Clemons, Director of Advisory Services, at Pivot Point Consulting.
Integrations are complex, require a very specific skill-set, and will make or break the implementation, he said. A CIO can mitigate risk, he advised, by considering the following:
- Start planning for the third-party system integrations on Day One, particularly those that transmit data to financial institutions and regulatory bodies.
- Start interviewing and secure professionals to lead the integration component of the implementation as soon as possible.
- And most important, develop a strategy to transfer the knowledge of that expert team one hired to those who will maintain the integrations.
“Implementations where integrations are considered later in the project schedule and that are not properly transitioned to an operational model all too often run over schedule, over budget, and lead to risk that could have been easily mitigated with the right amount of planning and management,” Clemons explained.
