Healthcare Information Technology (IT) Assessment

Challenge/Opportunity

Widelity was contracted to perform a comprehensive IT assessment for a client undergoing rapid growth in products and service regions. The client recognized it required a corresponding investment in upgrading IT systems, infrastructure, and support processes in response to this growth. The challenge for the client was to acquire a better understanding of the current state of its IT environment in order to make intelligent decisions on investing in new systems and upgrades to effectively support this growth.

Solution

To enable the client to better focus on its core business, Widelity conducted an IT assessment to identify the “as is” IT model encompassing applications, server capacity, LAN capability, and call center performance. The final report of this assessment provided recommendations for the client to develop an IT roadmap to prioritize system and infrastructure purchase and upgrade decisions. Widelity performed the following tasks to carry out the assessment:

• Identified the current set of applications supporting the business and categorized the applications as revenue-supporting and enterprise-supporting,
• Performed a high-level read out of the current CRM/ AMS-capable system for comparison with alternatives,
• Mapped server hardware to application software for internally supported systems,
• Identified the current state of the telecom infrastructure including LAN and phone system,
• Assessed capacity and throughput capabilities at a high level,
• Addressed the need to monitor business-critical systems to effect proactive incident and problem management and increase system availability,
• Evaluated call center effectiveness and identified opportunities for improvement covering people, processes, and systems in use,
• Delivered a Final Report on the results of the assessment, provided recommendations for next steps to achieve a more effective “to be” model.

Benefits

Widelity helped the client to better understand the current state of its IT environment. This improved understanding positioned the client to create an IT roadmap directly linked with its business objectives and service delivery and support requirements. In the past, the client tended to correct perceived shortcomings by adding automation and functionality in a serial manner, and a comprehensive IT evolution plan did not exist. Widelity’s primary objective was to enable the client to develop better long-term focus and self-sufficiency in support of its critical business infrastructure and the functions so essential to the efficient delivery and support of its services.

The following Widelity knowledge areas and skill sets contributed to the IT Assessment:

• IT Infrastructure expertise – for internally and externally managed functions
• Technology Solutions and planning experience for business transformation
• Organizational planning and IT service management expertise
• IT & Call Center operations management experience