Adaptable Enterprise Architecture and Long Term Value Added Partnerships in Healthcare

Abstract

Healthcare expenditure has increasingly been growing as a percentage of the GDP of several developed nations and it is feared that it will soon become unbearable. Additionally hospitals are faced with an estimated nursing shortage and with an aging patient base that demands better quality at a lower cost. Furthermore, hospitals tie up a large percentage of their budgets in inventory and in the required labour to manage it. Moreover, future improvements will necessarily require a solution beyond statistically sound inventory policies and software packages. This paper adopts a holistic enterprise architecture approach encompassing technology, processes, strategy, and stakeholder values. The study included two hospitals leading the way in such architectures with a leading healthcare vendor in the USA market. The research methodology consisted of field observations, 47 interviews and data analysis of the visited hospitals. Research findings are presented and supported by graphical representations of soft data collected. Finally conclusions are provided and also include lessons learned on how to adapt enterprise architectures and align stakeholder incentives.