Tips for a Successful Enterprise Imaging Strategy

Governance in an enterprise imaging strategy is the tipping point that can determine an organization’s success in implementation, Jef Williams, chief operating officer, Ascendian Healthcare Consulting, said at RSNA 2015.

Enterprise imaging is transformative for an organization, he said, so accountability is especially important. Enterprise imaging can be especially complicated, compared to smaller initiatives, because of the amount of people and moving parts required for implementation. Departments have to learn to work together, and have flexibility to iterate throughout the process because it is a timely endeavor and things will undoubtedly change, Williams said.

Expect implementation to take several years. Imaging has been using technology longer than most other clinicians, Williams said, so radiologists are accustomed to deploying new technology into their departments.

“We can’t approach an enterprise imaging project the way we approach a departmental project,” he said. “There are a lot more people that need to be involved in the decision making because a lot more people are affected by it.”

Williams stressed that governance is key to successful implementation.

“Good governance is an active body, a leadership, that includes key stakeholders across the enterprise,” he said. “And that’s not just ology to ology to ology, it’s IT, it’s administration, and the financial offices.”

An organization’s politics can be especially tricky to navigate when bringing different groups together. This makes a strong governance especially important, Williams said. The governance team should agree on what needs to be done, and also, just as importantly, agree to disagree on some aspects of the strategy.