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10 Healthcare is expensive 20 Technology is good 30 So we use technology to make health care cheap 40 We announce massive NHS-IT project 50 We spend $20Bn

10 Healthcare is expensive 20 Technology is good 30 So we use technology to make health care cheap 40 We announce massive NHS-IT project 50 We spend $20Bn 60 We discover project totally useless and abandon it 70 goto 10

tristanperry 15y ago
Pretty much sums it up. (for non-Brit HNers not aware of the NHS-IT project reference, the not-so-thrift previous Government launched various IT projects to 'improve' the NHS, such as http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15014288 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15014288 which cost £11bn, took 9+ years and was a big failure overall... mind you, they did create IT projects since they thought they sounded 'sexy' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12905303 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12905303 - so I guess it's little wonder the main NHS-IT project failed)
- agumonkey 15y ago
  Wasn't the problem tied to politics and national scale reforms (1) more than absolute improvement room in the healthcare systems ? Maybe smaller/more innovative attempts could succeed; things like non invasive surgery, new or cheaper ways of monitoring (earlier response is often best) at one point, all people want to be healthy, they just don't have tools to do it. (1): I just skimmed lightly through both links btw.
jamesRaybould 15y ago
This riles me every time I hear about it. I remember just watching one of the parliamentary committees on BBC Parliament and thinking why the hell are these people in charge of the biggest IT project in Britain. I often wonder why open-source can't provide a good and cheap solution to this NHS IT problem. I know I'd happily work on something that will benefit the health of the entire population. I don't find it too hard to imagine that there are lots of other developers out there who feel the same way I do.
- nobody3141 15y ago
  It's not health it's government. The ministry of defence stock control project is similarly behind schedule and overbudget - and last time they tested it they had 8Bn worth of kit the army couldn't find. I mean how difficult is it to make a stock control system ??
  - Retric 15y ago
    IMO, the solution to most of these problems is not to make some wacky IT solution that copy's the way some huge dysfunctional organization does things, but to fix the internal problems with the organization. Unfortunately, that's just as complex as creating a useful system and takes a lot more effort from those in charge, but it's far less sexy. EX: If your accounting software is more complex than quick books your probably doing it wrong.

tristanperry 15y ago

Pretty much sums it up. (for non-Brit HNers not aware of the NHS-IT project reference, the not-so-thrift previous Government launched various IT projects to 'improve' the NHS, such as http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15014288 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15014288 which cost £11bn, took 9+ years and was a big failure overall... mind you, they did create IT projects since they thought they sounded 'sexy' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12905303 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12905303 - so I guess it's little wonder the main NHS-IT project failed)

agumonkey 15y ago
Wasn't the problem tied to politics and national scale reforms (1) more than absolute improvement room in the healthcare systems ? Maybe smaller/more innovative attempts could succeed; things like non invasive surgery, new or cheaper ways of monitoring (earlier response is often best) at one point, all people want to be healthy, they just don't have tools to do it. (1): I just skimmed lightly through both links btw.

jamesRaybould 15y ago

This riles me every time I hear about it. I remember just watching one of the parliamentary committees on BBC Parliament and thinking why the hell are these people in charge of the biggest IT project in Britain. I often wonder why open-source can't provide a good and cheap solution to this NHS IT problem. I know I'd happily work on something that will benefit the health of the entire population. I don't find it too hard to imagine that there are lots of other developers out there who feel the same way I do.

nobody3141 15y ago
It's not health it's government. The ministry of defence stock control project is similarly behind schedule and overbudget - and last time they tested it they had 8Bn worth of kit the army couldn't find. I mean how difficult is it to make a stock control system ??
- Retric 15y ago
  IMO, the solution to most of these problems is not to make some wacky IT solution that copy's the way some huge dysfunctional organization does things, but to fix the internal problems with the organization. Unfortunately, that's just as complex as creating a useful system and takes a lot more effort from those in charge, but it's far less sexy. EX: If your accounting software is more complex than quick books your probably doing it wrong.