Skip was amazedas usualat the vast array of sports medicine products and services he saw displayed before him as he strolled through the aisles of the NATA annual clinical symposium exhibit hall. There were thousands of products to choose from. This year, however, Skip was looking for one thing and one thing only: computer software. Skip was the director of the athletic training outreach program at MacAndrews Hospital. He supervised the activities of four athletic trainers who were contracted to local high schools. As part of the contract with the schools, Skip had promised to implement a comprehensive record-keeping system for all injuries and treatments at each school. Now that the hospital had finally purchased the computer hardware, Skip was desperate to find the right software to meet his needs. He had to get this system operational in time for preseason physicals in eight weeks.

Skip was pleased that several computer software companies were displaying their products. He made a point to visit each booth. He discussed his project with each sales representative and received demonstrations of the products. Unfortunately, by the time he had finished making the rounds, Skip was more confused than when he had started. All the packages looked so good he wasn't sure which one to purchase. Eventually, he settled on the company that promised him delivery within five days.

When Skip returned home, he was pleased to see the new computer sitting on his desk. Although he had used a computer on a limited basis in college, it had been a few years, and he was surprised by how much he had forgotten. After a couple of evenings of staying late, reading the manuals, and making mistakes, he finally thought he had the system figured out. As promised, the software arrived five days after the convention ended. Skip opened the package, briefly scanned the directions, and attempted to load the software onto the computer's hard drive. It would not load. He reread the directions and tried again. No luck. When he tried calling the software company, he was put on hold for 15 minutes before a secretary finally told him that the support person was not at his desk. Could she take a message? The support person would call back as soon as possible.

Three days later, Skip finally made contact with the support person at the software company. After listening to Skip's story, the technician told Skip that the CDs were probably faulty and that Skip should send them back to the company for a free replacement.

Two weeks later, Skip received the replacement discs, which loaded properly on the first attempt. "Now we're finally getting someplace," Skip muttered to himself. It was clear to him after a few minutes of playing with the program, however, that the product he was using was not exactly the same as the demonstration program he had seen at the convention. When he ran into a question about how to generate a weekly injury summary, he tried to find the answer in the manual that had been shipped with the software. To his dismay, he discovered that the manual was poorly written and did not contain answers to many of his questions. When he called the company, he was once again told that the technical support person was away from his desk.

A year later, Skip and his staff of athletic trainers had still not figured out how to properly use all of the advertised features of their software program.

Questions for Analysis

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Skip's method for analyzing and purchasing computer software?
2. What capabilities should be included in a computer software package given the information management program Skip wants to establish?
3. What other factors should Skip have considered before purchasing the software?
4. What other hardware and software options could have been considered for Skip's information management system besides the PC and canned-program approach?
5. Develop the policies and procedures required to support an information management system like the one proposed by MacAndrews Hospital.
6. Develop an information system needs assessment for your institution. Identify computer hardware and software options that would meet those needs.