Clinical Technology Needs Its Own Governance Model, Not a Borrowed IT Framework

A senior director at Tufts University argues that traditional IT governance metrics like uptime and ticket closure are insufficient for clinical technology, which carries direct patient care implications. The piece calls for a distinct operating model that centers clinical outcomes, not just technical performance.

Why it matters

For years, healthcare IT governance has been measured by the wrong things. Uptime percentages and help desk resolution times are real metrics, but they were designed for enterprise IT environments where the cost of failure is inconvenience, not harm. Clinical technology operates in a different environment entirely, and Martin's argument is that the governance model needs to reflect that difference explicitly.

The practical challenge is organizational. Building a clinical technology operating model requires people who can translate between clinical workflow, patient safety risk, and technical architecture, and most health systems have not invested in developing that hybrid capacity. The governance structure is only as useful as the people running it, and that is where the real work begins.

What to watch

Whether health systems actually restructure governance accountability or simply rename existing IT committees and call it clinical technology leadership.