4.1 Requirement for Change
The need for change was clearly highlighted from
the interviews. For example, Interviewee 3
explained that “change is overdue as every evening
each patient and the interventions delivered to them
have to be input. This is very time consuming. Also
a big change that is needed is with the problem of
patients not having a unique identifier”. As a
solution to many of these issues, a number of
projects were rolled out to improve services in
Ireland and allow files to be viewed in more than
one hospital. Interviewee 6 confirms that the project
“was rolled out nationally with input locally”.
However, they caution that some form of “follow-up
should have happened as staff are not using all the
features of the system” (Interviewee 6). Targeted
training and proper scoping of projects was
identified as potential solutions by a number of
interviewees. The findings indicate within various
departments in the hospital, change is a forward
planning process, which is well documented and
audited through various stages. Change required a
cultural commitment from the organisation as a
whole to accommodate a new set of procedures, one
of which is the use of auditing.
Stemming from a discussion on change,
Interviewee 1 explained that change processes
should be linked back to the concept of ‘the Iron
Triangle’. They explained that the Iron Triangle
describes the relationship between cost, quality, and
access within the hospital’s department. The basic
premise here is that a change (positive or negative)
in one aspect of the triangle has a direct impact on
the remaining two areas (Kissick 1994). Thus, while
competing with each other, finding a balance and
identifying what specific areas the department can
trade-off becomes a key factor for change
management teams. In addition, the reverse is also
true – while improving one aspect of the Iron
Triangle, change can also have a positive impact on
the remaining two areas.
For the purpose of this research, we focus on the
quality aspects associated with implementing
change. The specific quality, safety and risk
management software used has different sections for
various quality documents on best practice.
Interviewee 1 suggests that the documents should
also link to audits to guide the change process. In
addition, risk assessments are also conducted to
provide a proactive management approach to assess
issues, which may provide future challenges. All of
these efforts support the hospitals quality
improvement plan to identify what implementations
are required and record incidences.
4.2 Attitudes towards New IT Systems
and Processes
The interviewees reported mixed views with the
introduction of new IT systems and processes. While
some seemed relatively pleased with the new
systems, others report disappointment with the
overall change and the manner in which the change
process occurred. Specifically, we revisit the Iron
Triangle to highlight how Access can improve
Quality, which is highlighted by Interviewee 4:
“overall it is an improvement as images can be view
from multiple locations”.
Interviewee 4 explains that “involvement of staff
is crucial for buy-in” which suggests that change
management is a much wider collaborative effort
within a department. Interviewee 5 highlights this
and explains that the implementation of some new
IT systems represents “silo thinking as lack of
understanding of standards, networking, eco-system
and health informatics”. In addition, to
accommodate a smooth change transition, training
on a new system is vital. Interviewee 7 also shares
similar concerns and highlights that “buy-in crucial
to generate enthusiasm” about a change in service
systems. In addition, they suggest “training should
be relevant and timely” which may hamper user
acceptance of IT-enabled innovation. Interviewee 10
also concurs “getting buy-in from stakeholders was
crucial and management had to communicate well to
do this. Without buy-in there is no engagement.
Open meetings are useful”.
We learn that with some projects there were “too
long a time delay from training to using the system”
(Interviewee 4) which can hamper the initial success
of an IT change management programme.
Interviewee 6 shares similar concerns regarding
training and suggests, “more frequent staff sessions
needed. Overall staff felt that training was not
sufficient and more difficult for older people. Staged
training sessions would have helped such as
introduction, advanced, super user training”. While
some projects provide standard operating procedures
(SOP) the inclusion of other software companies for
supporting services may cause concerns for some
users, for example, subcontracting support services
(Interviewee 6).
Our findings also suggest that communication
regarding the objective of implementing change is
critical. For example, Interviewee 7 raises the
question: “What are the objectives?” and goes on to