Looking Forward: The 2012 IT Work Plan

So 2012 is 5 days old and everyone at AMPATH IT is back at work.  The holidays and 2011 are in the past.  Time to look ahead, however just before that, I'll step back into the past for just two sentences.

As my New Year's weekend rolled to a close, I took some time to jot down a series of tasks that I hope will result in real noticeable changes.* I don't think we will accomplish everything, but I am confident that we can complete a number of them, if not most.

* Noticeable by inside and out of AMPATH IT. 

The tasks range from enterprise projects, improving staffing, training, governance, organization, streamlining operations.  We are organizing the list now and will spend the next few days prioritizing tasks. My hope is that we arrange things to maximize my remaining time and so when it is time for me to depart, the IT department will be humming along.

I am encouraged by the growth of the IT team as a whole. We are much stronger than we were a year ago and I think the guys here can handle most of the day-to-day things. There is still some work to do on the things strategic as well as getting the guys to tackle inefficiencies, imperfections and frustrations.  Strategic  things is really about positioning IT in away that can make measurable impacts. Some of this is through cost savings but there are areas where we can innovate and really be a key part of the health care mission.

The other parts are simply looking around and trying to make the place better. There are so many areas where a little imagination, problem solving, critical thinking and work can transform the IT operation. We don't necessarily need to spend lots of money, but figure out how to effectively and efficiently carry out the work.*

* One cheap thing that can be done is be more effective communicators. This costs almost nothing and the benefits can be enormous. It seems obvious, but really it isn't.

Over the next few weeks, I'll lay out parts of the 2012 work plan. My hope is that with each passing month folks at AMPATH will really begin to notice a huge transformation.