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A NEW ROLE FOR THE IT DEPARTMENT IN GREEK HOSPITALS

Low ICT penetration in public Greek hospitals represents a significant barrier in delivering high quality and cost effective healthcare services. The Greek Ministry of Health and Welfare adopted a six-year strategic plan for the promotion of Information Society in the Healthcare Sector with the ambition to overcome this barrier. Taking into account, the shortage of qualified IT staff, the inherent complexity of Hospital Information Systems and the difficulty to keep up with ICT advancements, outsourcing hospital’s IT functions seems to be the only viable solution. In this context, the role of hospital’s IT department needs to be redefined towards strategic information systems planning and control rather than systems support. This paper describes the current situation of hospitals’ IT departments and presents a proposed organizational scheme in order to meet the needs of an evolving healthcare environment.