Tool: Key Question Checklist for CFOs When Evaluating Population Health IT Investments

Key Question Checklist for CFOs When Evaluating Population Health IT Investments

Hospital and health system CFOs can use the following key questions to evaluate major IT purchases to support population health initiatives.

• Does the business model adequately address indirect spend in departments other than IT―such as analytics, strategy, and clinical areas―for informaticists to effectively use these new systems?

• Do the business benefits significantly rely on the combination of external as well as internal data assets, and if so, is it more effective to make our internal data available to a service provider that has already invested in the integration and maintenance of external data sources?

• What percentage of the investment is on “commodity” IT infrastructure and services versus higher value business outcomes?

• Have we considered buying (outsourcing) IT infrastructure and services, including the informaticists we will need to derive value, rather than building infrastructure and services?

Source: Capto Consulting, Denver