Optimal selection of medical information system outsourcing vendors for Taiwanese clinics by using analytic hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis

Since the National Health Insurance scheme was established in 1995, medical expenditures have been recorded via electronic media as the Taiwanese government promotes the use of the National Health Information Network (HIN), enabling medical institutions island wide to make data accessible and transparent in a digital form. The information system outsourcing attempts to simplify an enterprise’s functions, thus enabling the enterprise to concentrate its core business, increase flexibility to compete with an external environmental change and save costs or cope with information technology personnel shortages. Therefore, this study develops a model for selecting medical information system (MIS) vendors. This study adopts the modified Delphi technique, the Analytic Hierarchy Process and sensitivity analysis to develop an evaluation model for selecting the optimal outsourcing vendor of clinics in Taiwan to determine its effectiveness. According to this model, the clinical physician at the selecting MIS vendors will consider the proper order as cooperation, contractor and product quality, contractor’s experience, contractor’s serviceability, know-how and advance skills, economic factors. Additionally, a Taiwanese internal clinic is used herein as an example of how an MIS vendor can be selected using this model. The proposed model helps private practitioners to effectively select MIS software, making it highly applicable for academia and in practice.