With a goal of enhancing information technology value and efficiency across the University of Nebraska System and at UNMC, a university-led review of current UNMC IT services and support is being launched.
“This is a review to determine what is working well and where there are opportunities for improvement,” said Anne Barnes, vice chancellor for business and finance and the senior leader responsible for IT at UNMC. “Based on the collection of key stakeholder feedback, Big Ten peer reviews and industry best practices, we will determine our future path, including any scope of changes from our current model.”
Barnes, who also serves as the interim chief financial officer for the University of Nebraska System, said that currently, UNMC IT is aligned with Nebraska Medicine IT through an agreement-of-services model. The overall goal of alignment for a strong clinical IT system with Nebraska Medicine won’t end, but there may be more efficiencies that can be gained across the NU system, Barnes said.
Bret Blackman, vice president for IT and chief information officer for the University of Nebraska System, will lead the review. He will be joined by Scott Raymond, chief information and innovation officer at Nebraska Medicine, and senior UNMC leaders.
“The primary goal of this review is to enhance the value and efficiency of IT services both at UNMC and across the NU system, with a strong focus on the end-users,” Blackman said.
Blackman said that it’s important to note that no foregone conclusion should be assumed from the start of the review. The review will focus on gathering facts that will be used to form the basis for any recommendations.
The review also will include the input and review by the chief information officers at four peer institutions in the Big Ten, Blackman said.
Blackman said that the scope of the review will include primarily three areas:
- A review of current UNMC IT services and support, including distributed college, institute, center and/or department-level IT staff. This includes gathering feedback from key stakeholders on what is working well in the current state and identifying feedback on real and/or perceived challenges. Reviewers will analyze faculty, staff and students’ end-user experiences.
- A comprehensive review of existing organizational structures, personnel, budget and the Nebraska Medicine/UNMC/NU master agreement of services. The increasing costs of IT, along with uncertain state funding, will require a full analysis to drive IT scale, minimize increasing costs and align budget investments in support of strategic initiatives, Blackman said.
- A recommendation for the Executive Review Team, based on information gathered during reviews from review teams, external teams and industry best practices. The proposed future-state model for IT support at UNMC should assume a collaborative and integrated strategy between the University of Nebraska System (all NU campuses) and Nebraska Medicine. This recommendation is expected by May 2025.
“It is essential for key leaders across the University of Nebraska and Nebraska Medicine to actively participate in the review process through interviews, surveys and various interactions that will be outlined in the coming weeks and months,” UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, said.
Questions or feedback regarding the IT review can be e-mailed to this IT review email inbox.