swot analysis example for information technology company

IT in the healthcare industry provides new opportunities to boost patient confidence and reinforce patient trust in caregivers and healthcare facilities. IT can not only reduce operating costs, but IT can also ensure a reduction in the number of medical errors. Increasingly, IT is seen as a way to promote the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare by bringing decision support to the point of care, providing vital links and closing open loop systems, and allowing routine quality measurement to become reality.

And while there is yet no clear picture of what this change will be, many believe a paradigm shift in healthcare is imminent and that information technology (IT) is the catalyst. For years, many have called for a fundamental change in the way healthcare is delivered. The healthcare industry faces many well-recognized challenges: high cost of operations, inefficiency, inadequate safety, insufficient access to information, and poor financial performance. External opportunities including increased use of the Internet, a favorable national environment, and a growing call for industry standards are pressured by threats of legal compliance, loss of patient trust, and high cost of IT. Internal weaknesses, however, include a lack of information system integration, user resistance to new technologies and processes, and slow adoption of IT. Internal strengths supporting further industry investment in IT include improved patient safety, greater operational efficiency, and current investments in IT infrastructure.

Using the popular strategic analysis tool of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis (SWOT), facing the healthcare industry and its adoption of information technologies (IT) are presented. Analysts, practitioners, patients and others have concerns for the industry. The healthcare industry is under pressure to improve patient safety, operate more efficiently, reduce medical errors, and provide secure access to timely information while controlling costs, protecting patient privacy, and complying with legal guidelines.

Swot analysis example for information technology company