Industry Consolidation Underscores the Need for IT System Integration Planning

Changes in reimbursement approaches in healthcare are unleashing unprecedented business forces in the industry. As a result, providers are consolidating into larger integrated delivery networks, hoping to achieve economies of scale and operating efficiency.

But it’s difficult to truly integrate organizations, and that’s particularly true when it comes to getting disparate information systems to work together. Overall, consolidation has become more difficult because providers now have a variety of IT systems in place. Because these IT systems have become mission critical for healthcare organizations, it’s no small task to bring together these systems and the information they contain.

As new payment models take hold and profit margins tighten, these new, larger organizations need to integrate data from their systems in order to improve care coordination, patient experience, and financial performance.