Planning for purchase and implementation of an automated hospital information system: a nursing perspective

Planning for purchase, implementation, and use of an automated hospital information system is critical to its success. The planning process involves assessing needs, evaluating alternatives, selecting a system, and implementation support. Although an evaluation of costs and benefits of alternative systems is useful in planning for and selecting a system, the assessment can be very complex, and the assumptions used in the analysis are critical. Most benefits of automated systems are the result of improved timeliness, accuracy, and access to information, and these are difficult to value in dollars.