Measuring information technology cost efficiency among academic health sciences centres: A benchmarking study

Health care managers are increasingly being questioned about, and must defend their information technology (TI) spending decisions. In 2001, in collaboration with the Chief Information Officers from the Toronto Academic Health Sciences Centres, this cost benchmarking study was initiated. Benchmarking is a useful management tool to compare relative cost position and identify possible action steps. The primary indicator selected for this benchmarking study, the IT spend ratio, is defined as an organization's total IT spending relative to its total operating costs. This study has resulted in a repeatable benchmarking for comparing IT spending levels among health sciences centres but has also highlighted key challenges. The major contribution of this study is a foundation upon which investigations of other aspects of IT performance measurement within health care organizations can be conducted.