Leadership in times of crisis during change due to health IT projects

Abstract

Leadership is an essential component of IT projects. The drive towards integrated health care, capitalising on an integrated electronic health record, means that new approaches are needed for effective leadership of IT projects in complex health systems. A shared-services organisation merged the Information Services departments of two District Health Boards and, by means of a large and complex project, established a single IT infrastructure. This formed the platform for a research project reported in this paper on how people adapt to change brought about by health IT projects. People working in the new IT area adapted to the changes but experienced a Capability Crisis grounded in their commitment and competencies associated with the project. As part of that Crisis they sought leadership, which is important in difficult times. A new phenomenon, the Leadership Crucible, was identified and described. New forms of collective leadership appeared to emerge: how we tackle the challenges of leadership within the drive for integrated health care influences the success of IT integration projects.