Economic analysis of order communication system for hospitals

처방전달시스템의 경제성분석

  • Chae, Young-Moon (Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Yonsei University College of Medicine) ;
  • Lee, Hae-Jong (Dept of Health Administration College of Health Science Yonsei University) ;
  • Park, Chang-Rae (School of Business Yonsei University)
  • 채영문 (연세대학교 의과대학 예방의학) ;
  • 이해종 (연세대학교 보건과학대학) ;
  • 박창래 (연세대학교 상경대학)
  • Published : 1991.12.01

Abstract

Hospitals have been very susceptable to changes in external environment. Accordingly, they have been experiencing great financial difficulty due to low insurance rates and increasing competition. As a remedy, hospitals have attempted to use computer in a strategic manner. Such system is called strategic information system(SIS), and order communication system(OCS ) is an example of SIS in hospital setting. While OCS has known to be effective in reducing waiting time for outpatients, many hospitals are reluctant to introduce this system mainly because there are no real data or methods for justifying the cost of the system. Cost-benefit analysis has been traditionally used for such purpose, but this method deals with limited portion of benefits and therefore not very useful for analyzing the economic feasibility of SIS. In this paper, information economics tools which expand cost with value was used to analyze the economic feasibility of OCS. To assist the analysis, financial simulation model was developed using simulation package, called IFPS(Interactive Financial Planning System).

Keywords