Assessing Finnish health care information system projects: How and why do they usually fail?

Abstract

The role of information technology is constantly growing but carrying out information system projects has proven to be very difficult in Finland. Especially projects within the public healthcare have been unsuccessful. Finland is one of the leading IT countries in the world but facing many challenges in retaining its position.

The aim of the research was to find out the reasons behind the massive health care information system project failures that have occurred in Finland during the past years. The empirical material was a sample if news articles on the topic. The information was then deepened with related literature, which discussed, for instance, information systems procurement, and features related to especially health care information system projects.

A coherent strategy both for the state’s overall IT operations and for the development of HCIS, and good knowledge in information systems procurement play important roles in the success of the projects. By having good knowledge in project procurement, public buyers will be able to divide projects into smaller parts and to reduce their dependency on the vendors. Managing the project after the procurement is actually a relatively small part, if the two foundation parts are in order. End-user participation and proper monitoring and evaluation are essential during the entire project.

In the future, the emphasis should be on successful examples instead of constantly focusing on negative outcomes. The media should not indulge in exaggeration. Cooperation between the buyers and vendors, between different buying organizations, and within the buying organizations should be enhanced.