This article interviews several people in the trenches, and on the front lines, of imaging IT planning, integration and management in today’s Consolidated Enterprise.

Critical to success are:

• Imaging and clinical informatics knowledge (how to get all those MRNs to link, how to manage orders and results across facilities)
• Solution flexibility/scalability (having systems that can expand, as needed, at reasonable cost…even temporarily during a data migration)
• Viable financial models (shared cost allocations based on volumes)
• Policy development (for assigning user permissions and setting data quality and retention targets)
• Human resource planning (what roles and skills are needed post-consolidation)
• Partnerships with suppliers (to ensure that system expansion and data consolidation will succeed at predictable costs)

Organizations that prepare for consolidation and invest effort in these areas will survive—and even thrive—in the never ending healthcare provider merger and acquisition race.