Implementation challenges of hospital information system in super specialty hospital “A case study of PGIMER, Chandigarh”

Hospital Information System (HIS) is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage the administrative, clinical and support aspects of a hospital. It provides numerous advantages in patient care and hospital management. With the advancement in technology and cost effective solutions, HIS adoption among the hospitals has increased substantially in recent years. Various project management tools are available which helpful in effective planning and project monitoring. In spite of effective planning and implementation in phase manner, the concern remains regarding the challenges faced during implementation and usage of HIS. These challenges includes Technical Challenges like Security of Data, Unauthorized access, confidential information, integration of Medical Softwares to avoid duplicate entry and Administrative Challenges like involvement of stakeholders, user acceptance, lack of ownership etc. This can be subdued either by utilization of data entry operators or through offline and duplicate entries, but such implementation does not achieve the purpose of HIS. Apart from good project management, there are various other factors such as involvement of users, effective trainings, awareness program, secure and role based application, compliance to industry standards for easily integration with other applications etc., which increase success factor of implementation. This paper presents the challenges faced in implementation of HIS in super specialty hospital, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh (PGIMER) and strategies adapted to overcome them.