Approaching the digitisation of the healthcare system as an IT project is a recipe for failure, according to the chief information officer (CIO) of the HSE and CEO of eHealth Ireland, Fran Thompson.

Speaking at the recent Smart Health Summit, Mr Thompson said: “The biggest challenge in digitising the health service is recognising that it is not an IT project. If it’s seen as an IT project, we’re dead in the water. This is a change programme that is being enabled and supported by technology.”

Mr Thompson was speaking on the need for digital health initiatives to be led by clinical need. “If information technology leads it, it will not work,” he said.

In his experience, there are three critical elements that are essential to the successful digitisation of healthcare.

“If you look at the things that really work in the health service from a technical perspective, if you look at the Maternal & Newborn Clinical Management System, the National Integrated Medical Imaging System, or any of the big projects that have worked, they have a few characteristics in common.

“They are clinically led, they have management involvement, and they have ICT.

“If you can get those people working together, it works. Any programmes that I’ve seen working – either in voluntary hospitals or the HSE – have those three characteristics.”