Systems Integration in Information Technology Research Paper

Systems Integration in Information Technology - Research Paper Example Shortly after the system wide integration, in 2006, problems within the system architecture resulted in a dangerous breach of patient care. The system breakdown as described by Kaiser Permanente executives and industry leaders was a direct result of integration of an information technology (IT) component of the KP Health Connect system. Kaiser Permanente envisioned the KP Health Connect system as a seamless integration of resources that in theory would electronically connect members to their health care team, to their personal health information, and to all relevant medical knowledge available to promote integrated health care.(Cochran, 2009) Ideally Kaiser Permanente members would complete an annual online health risk assessment, then receive customized feedback on behavioral interventions, start pro-active health behavior change programs, and choose whether to send results to KP Health Connect to facilitate communication and information sharing with their with their physician.(Montalbano, 2008) In reality Kaiser Permanente was abandoning a very costly attempt made in the late 1990’s and early parts of this decade to build its own clinical information system with IBM. Kaisers approach shifted to "buy, not build," (Montalbano, 2008) after the earlier failure with the IBM system. The project’s expansive scope was unprecedented for a civilian company. To purchase an â€Å"off-the-shelf system† (Montalbano, 2008), Kaiser studied two medical software vendors, Cerner and Epic Systems, ultimately selecting Epic as the primary vendor for a new system that would eventually become KP Health Connect. .(Cochran, 2009) Kaiser Permanente attempted with the â€Å"off-shelf† system to fully integrate the company’s previous EHR’s and collect all their data into one system.(Cochran, 2009) The resulting loss of access and availability of patient records and billing histories has