Why was the system a failure?

West Coast University Medical Center (WCMC) is a large teaching and research hospital with a national reputation for excellence in health care practice, education, and research. Seeking to sustain that reputation, the senior executive board decided to install a comprehensive medical diagnostic system. The system would be linked to WCMC’s servers and be available to physicians from their homes and offices via the Internet. By clicking icons to access a medical specialty area, then keying answers to queries about a patient’s medical symptoms and history, a physician could receive a list of diagnostics with associated statistics.
The senior board sent a questionnaire to every department asking managers about the needs of their areas and how they felt the system might improve doctors’ performance. Most managers replied that the system would save doctors’ time and improve performance. The hospital information technology (IT) group was assigned to assess the cost and feasibility of implementing the system.
They interviewed managers at WCMC and several vendors of diagnostic software. The study showed high enthusiasm among the managers and a long list of potential benefits. Based on the feasibility study, the board approved the system.