Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

The IT Transformation Health Care Needs

By: Nikhil R. Sahni, Robert S. Huckman, Anuraag Chigurupati and David M. Cutler
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

In recent years, health care organizations have made sizable investments in information technology. They’ve used their IT systems to replace paper records with electronic ones and to improve billing processes, thereby boosting revenue. But so far, IT has been of little value in making medical care delivery more effective or less expensive. How can health care organizations change this? One key is to prioritize quality improvement over cost cutting. By harnessing IT to help design better clinical practices, it’s possible to achieve better patient outcomes and better financial performance. It is also vital to gather good information—by using simpler, more-organic collection methods—and to make it actionable by applying analytics. Finally, many organizations will need to forge new business and operating models, expanding their IT staffs, revamping how their clinical staffs work, and creating new payment structures. The authors provide numerous examples of health care organizations that are taking these steps—and seeing impressive results.

Keywords

Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Model

Citation

Sahni, Nikhil R., Robert S. Huckman, Anuraag Chigurupati, and David M. Cutler. "The IT Transformation Health Care Needs." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 6 (November–December 2017): 128–136.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

About The Author

Robert S. Huckman

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2025
    • Health Services Research

    Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery

    By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole Hodgson
    • July 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (B)

    By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory
    • June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
    • Faculty Research

    Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (A)

    By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory
More from the Authors
  • Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole Hodgson
  • Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (B) By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory
  • Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (A) By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.