The approach to IT modernization at NYU Langone Health
A major, complex modernization initiative provides example of two success factors in managing transformational change.
I’ve consulted with and observed many organizations undertaking IT modernization initiatives. An organization that achieved impressive results is NYU Langone Health, the academic medical center at New York University. The initiative started with the vision of the chairman of the board and the CEO to grow the business and make NYU the best hospital in New York. But the hospital’s IT capabilities at the time couldn’t enable the business to accomplish these objectives. To make matters worse, Hurricane Sandy blew through and destroyed key systems that were in the main hospital’s basement, which included connectivity. And this happened while the hospital was undergoing a major shift to replace the electronic medical record (EMR) to the new Epic system and acquiring many specialty group health practices throughout New York’s tri-state area annually. To learn more about the approach the hospital took in modernizing its IT and growing the business amid major challenges, I recently had a conversation with Jim Song, former Vice President, IT Infrastructure and Shared Services.
When Song joined NYU in 2011, the hospital system had not been able to break its $1+ billion revenue cycle from a growth perspective. At the end of July 2017 – and $550+ million invested IT modernization – it was over a $6+ billion academic medical center. Song explains that modernizing the hospital’s IT was the first building block for growth because the infrastructure and IT delivery capabilities were so far behind.
