Close

New Workspace Modernization Research from CDW

See how IT leaders are tackling workspace modernization opportunities and challenges.

Dec 15 2025
Management

How and Why to Improve IT Service Management in Healthcare

With optimized ITSM, healthcare organizations can abandon outdated and siloed legacy tools, allowing their teams to focus on patient care, not IT work-arounds.

IT service management involves a comprehensive approach to end-to-end IT service delivery, from creation to delivery and support.

“ITSM is how organizations plan, deliver and support the technology services their people rely on every day,” says Rahul Tripathi, group vice president and general manager of ITSM at ServiceNow.

A seamless ITSM approach helps ensure coordination, uptime and consistent service delivery across the entire enterprise, he adds.

With healthcare’s highly complex systems and regulations, ITSM is essential. ITSM in healthcare entails everything from resolving issues with clinical applications to ensuring systems stay online at critical times.

“Think of ITSM as the behind-the-scenes engine that keeps everything running, allowing clinicians and staff to focus on patient care,” Tripathi says.

Click the banner below for expert guidance to help optimize your IT operations.

 

Common IT Management Pain Points for Healthcare Organizations

It’s difficult to manage IT services or gain operational visibility with disparate tools and point solutions amassed over time.

“Many healthcare organizations are juggling a mix of outdated, legacy tools that don’t communicate with each other,” Tripathi says.

Such tools create silos and reduce response times, while healthcare staff and leadership struggle to gain enterprisewide insights. “These challenges aren’t just inconvenient, they also can impact patient care delivery and compliance,” Tripathi says.

Burdened with outdated and siloed systems, staff often rely on manual work-arounds. This adds to technical debt, or the cost of maintaining outmoded systems and temporary fixes. As technical debt grows, progress slows, risks increase and daily tasks become more difficult, frustrating and time-consuming.

And time is something that healthcare organizations cannot afford to waste. “Every minute counts,” Tripathi says. “When systems are down or support takes too long, it doesn’t just slow things down, it can also affect patient outcomes.”

READ MORE: Service Management as a Service provides a new way to have ServiceNow.

Considerations for Improving ITSM in Healthcare

For healthcare organizations, optimized ITSM has become a must-have. An improved ITSM strategy frees time and resources so that teams can focus on patient care, not IT work-arounds.

“Improving ITSM helps healthcare organizations respond faster, work smarter and create better experiences for both staff and patients,” Tripathi says.

To enhance their ITSM, healthcare organizations first need a clear assessment of their current challenges. They should identify manual processes and determine if any teams are working in silos or relying on outdated tools. “Start by identifying what is holding you back,” Tripathi says.

Next, healthcare organizations should carefully select a unified ITSM platform. “Choose a platform that connects systems, automates routine work and offers real-time visibility,” he says.

For all the technical considerations, however, ITSM transformation doesn’t begin and end with technology. Support from leadership is critical. “Successful ITSM transformation requires strong change management and ongoing support for the people who make it all work,” Tripathi says.

ITSM transformation also doesn’t end on the go-live date. Success hinges on a plan to continue sustaining progress. “Long-term success means continually improving operations, scaling innovation and keeping teams aligned around shared goals,” he says.

The Benefits of Partnering on ITSM

When strengthening their ITSM, healthcare organizations do not need to go it alone; they can benefit from partnerships. The right partner can help with both short-term technology fixes and long-term improvements.

Moreover, an ITSM partner can provide not just tech solutions but also leadership and guidance on the transformation journey. “A strong partner brings more than technology,” Tripathi says. “Partners offer expertise, a clear roadmap and a proven approach that helps organizations avoid common pitfalls.”

As an ITSM partner, ServiceNow delivers a single, AI-driven platform that connects people, processes and data across the enterprise. On the mobile-ready platform, AI-powered agents help route and resolve issues, while dashboards show real-time performance and trends. “Everything is designed to reduce manual work, improve response times and scale with your organization,” Tripathi says.

EXPLORE: IT operations services can transform healthcare technology investments.

Southern Cross Health Insurance, New Zealand’s largest private health insurer, has realized the benefits of ITSM partnership. With ServiceNow as its ITSM partner, Southern Cross abandoned siloed legacy tools and adopted a modern, unified platform.

“With one system for managing incidents, changes and service requests, the organization gained full visibility across teams, dramatically improved response times and streamlined its processes,” Tripathi says.

Since adopting ServiceNow’s platform, Southern Cross has increased its service-level resolution rate by 36%, reduced major incidents by 40% and raised user satisfaction from 70% to more than 99%.

In addition, the insurer deployed an AI-powered virtual agent to offer around-the-clock self-service, easing the load on the service desk and providing employees “a faster, more intuitive support experience,” Tripathi says.

“By creating consistency and connecting teams through a single solution, Southern Cross has strengthened internal collaboration and built greater trust, both within the organization and with the patients and members it serves,” he adds.

gorodenkoff/Getty Images