Abstract

During the 2004/05 fiscal year, the Directors of Information Technology Services (ITS) at four Toronto area hospitals agreed to participate in a detailed benchmarking exercise looking at ITS costs and services in their organizations. There was a high degree of interest since the hospitals were similar in size and were all community hospitals. Also, there was a good working relationship and a sense that the information would help us better understand the complexities of comparing hospital IT operations.

An initial data template was completed for each site, followed by a meeting where the data elements and definitions were reviewed in detail. After initial calculations of the performance indicators, some data clarification was required and the final calculations were performed. The indicators presented in this report highlight some of the findings from this data analysis.