Asklepios IET ItSM Deployed To Ensure Reliable Operation Of

Asklepios Iet Itsm Deployed To Ensure Reliableoperation Of Asklepios

Asklepios: iET ITSM deployed to ensure reliable operation of Asklepios clinics’ IT systems True to its vision: ‘United for Health’, Asklepios focuses primarily on people and cutting- edge medicine. It has more than 130 clinics and healthcare institutions which accommodate more than 26,000 beds, and employs around 44,000 staff who help it post a total annual turnover of EUR 2.5 billion (2011). Asklepios has evolved over the last 25 years into one of the three largest private hospital and healthcare institution operators in Germany. This top-class performance is also down to the reliable, sustainable operation of its entire IT infrastructure. For this reason, the hospital operator introduced iET ITSM, which supports 11 IT service processes.

Special requirements of the healthcare sector The Asklepios Group’s IT department, located in Hamburg, deals with three main areas of activity. It develops and implements the Group's IT Strategy. It is also responsible for operating the cluster, which is the biggest healthcare cluster, covering six clinics and more than 10,000 employees. Another of the IT department’s tasks is to run all centralized systems, including commercial and clinical applications, as well as e and Internet. The Group IT department is supported by local IT departments in all the regional healthcare institutions.

The Asklepios data centre is ISO 27001 certified and must also comply with the new EN 80001 standard. Special requirements in terms of security and data protection apply in the healthcare sector, which have also been defined in this standard. Medical practice is seeing an ever-growing number of medical products being integrated into IT networks; the EN 80001 standard specifies tasks, responsibilities and activities so that the risk management of IT networks involving medical products is safe and efficient, as well as ensuring data and system security. The clinics’ IT components must always conform to the ongoing system operation in terms of safety compliance and trouble-free performance. This involves securely monitoring the whole IT environment.

A monitor must not suddenly fail during an operation and the transfer of data and alarms must not be interrupted. This places stringent requirements on change, release and configuration management. Consequently, Asklepios attaches as much value to the quality management of its IT system as to treating its patients. All clinics and institutions are subject to internal quality management, which is constantly used to help ensure that the best possible range of medical services and processes is provided. The company is working towards ISO/IEC 20000 certification in the IT sector.

2013 is the date when certification should be achieved for the service management system supported by iET ITSM for all 250 services described in the service catalogue. Challenge: Transparency and Quality The Group IT department used to use a proprietary ticketing tool for incident management, which ran under Lotus. Change and problem management was covered using SharePoint services. The lack of integration between the two processes was causing considerable operational problems. Process performance could not be measured and no improvements could be made.

These reasons led the Group IT department to redefine its processes and to seek an IT Service Management (ITSM) solution that could offer them the best support. Extensive process integration Asklepios deploys iET ITSM for its entire IT service management and models the following 11 processes in an integrated solution: Incident Management The service desk responsible for the whole of Germany handles approximately 4,000 incidents per month, split roughly between 50% faults and 50% service requests.

Since iET ITSM has been implemented, the rate for resolving incidents first time has risen from 40% to 55%, while the number of unresolved incidents has been reduced by two thirds. There is a self-service facility available for customers to relieve the strain on the service desk, which they can use to enter incidents and track their resolution. Stephan Welz, Head of IT Change Management in the Asklepios Group IT department, appreciates the adaptability of iET ITSM: “We wanted to set up the ‘major incident’ category in iET ITSM to allow us to offer even more customer service options. We managed to implement this ITIL recommendation quickly and easily. If necessary, we can now give an early warning to potentially affected users. This is effective if several users report the same problem, such as a server service that is down. Once the fault has been remedied, all users are automatically informed again.”

Problem Management and Known Error Database Integration with incident management means that incidents are processed more quickly and this improves the rate of resolving them first time. Change Management Even bigger releases are controlled by the Group IT department using change management where they are created as projects. Stephan Welz is very excited by the action management feature in this process: “The action management function in iET ITSM is brilliant! All the other tools that I’m familiar with control the planning, distribution and execution of individual tasks via email. In iET ITSM, the action management feature allows you to create in a simple manner action plans for processing tasks and authorizations. It is much easier to understand and reduces email traffic considerably.”

Stephan Welz appreciates the uncomplicated way of using this feature and the somewhat less “formalized” approach of the change management application. Release & Deployment Management This application is mainly used for planning and implementing software distribution. Service Catalogue Management The service catalogue is a key component of the Asklepios service management system. All 250 services offered by the Group IT department are clearly presented in the service catalogue and linked with the appropriate service level agreements.

The processes are assigned to the services. The service tree in iET ITSM has been split into two levels. The top level provides the business view, while the level below it provides the IT view to: The first level is made up of business processes in the clinical environment based on the clinical pathway; the second level displays the IT products being offered in the form of services. New services, changes to, and the removal of services are created and processed as actions in change management. This ensures that the service catalogue is always up to date. Listing all the services in the service catalogue also makes service reporting to the customer easier for Asklepios, as well as the assessment of services in service level management.

Benefits for Asklepios Transparent process; opportunities for measuring and improving processes; optimized documentation and communication; 15% rise in the rate for resolving incidents first time; reduction in the number of unresolved incidents by two thirds; achieved a 26% reduction in the number of incidents exceeding target service levels.

Paper For Above instruction

The deployment of the iET ITSM system at Asklepios represents a significant advancement in healthcare IT service management, exemplifying how modern digital solutions can enhance operational efficiency, compliance, and patient safety. This case study analyses the strategic implementation of iET ITSM across the extensive network of Asklepios clinics, highlighting its impact on incident management, process transparency, and overall service quality.

Given the critical nature of healthcare environments, Asklepios required an ITSM solution capable of supporting complex and sensitive processes. The healthcare sector has particular stipulations regarding data security, regulatory compliance, and continuous system availability. The implementation of ISO 27001 and EN 80001 standards necessitated a reliable and secure IT infrastructure, which could monitor and manage IT components effectively to avoid interruptions during medical procedures. Asklepios’ deployment of iET ITSM addressed these needs through comprehensive process automation, integration, and compliance management, aligning with healthcare-specific standards and best practices like ITIL.

The core benefit of this deployment is the significant improvement in incident management. Prior to adopting iET ITSM, Asklepios faced challenges with disparate and non-integrated systems for incident and change management, hindering performance measurement and operational efficiency. The new system facilitated an integrated approach that combined incident, problem, and change management into a cohesive framework, resulting in quantifiable improvements: a 15% increase in first-time incident resolution, a two-thirds reduction in unresolved incidents, and a 26% decline in incidents exceeding service level targets. These metrics reflect enhanced IT service consistency and reliability, crucial for healthcare operations where system failures can directly impact patient care.

Furthermore, the self-service portal introduced in iET ITSM empowered users by enabling them to report issues and track their status autonomously. This feature not only reduced workload on the IT service desk but also increased transparency and responsiveness, fostering a service-oriented culture aligned with ITIL principles. The action management feature further optimized change management workflows by simplifying task planning, reducing email traffic, and improving clarity in release processes. Such improvements contribute to minimized system downtime and faster deployment of software updates necessary for maintaining clinical excellence.

Asklepios also tailored its service catalog within iET ITSM to accommodate the hospital group's unique operational structure. By splitting the catalog into business and IT views, the organization ensured that services were clearly mapped to clinical processes and IT offerings, facilitating precise reporting and SLA monitoring. Linking services to SLAs categorized by criticality (bronze, silver, gold) allowed Asklepios to prioritize responses and resource allocation effectively, maintaining high service levels across diverse healthcare settings.

Beyond incident management, the deployment enhanced other critical ITSM processes such as configuration management, license management, and business relationship management. The integration with Microsoft’s SCCM enabled automatic and continuous updates of the Configuration Items (CIs), with a current database of around 27,000 CIs, including servers, network components, and medical devices. Consistent data accuracy is vital for risk management, troubleshooting, and regulatory reporting within healthcare environments where patient safety depends on precise and real-time information.

Additionally, the adoption of ITIL-aligned continual service improvement processes allowed Asklepios to systematically gather and evaluate improvement proposals. The dedicated application for this purpose ensured that quality initiatives were tracked, prioritized, and implemented sustainably, fostering ongoing enhancement of IT services that directly support healthcare delivery.

The deployment of iET ITSM at Asklepios exemplifies the transformative effect of integrated IT Service Management in healthcare. By aligning processes with stringent standards and operational demands, Asklepios successfully improved incident resolution, operational transparency, and service quality. Such advancements are instrumental in ensuring that healthcare institutions can deliver consistent, high-quality patient care while maintaining regulatory compliance and operational resilience in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

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