MarieAnn North
Lucy Mancini Newell
“Change you can believe in” may be a catchy political slogan, but with limited resources, how do we bring about the change we believe is desperately needed in our healthcare delivery system?
Unlike other industries that quickly adopted automation, hospitals and medical group practices are requiring more staff FTEs and paper than ever. The inefficiency and duplication of effort are mind-boggling, and the opportunity for miscommunication and errors is distressing.
Given the current economic constraints, we need to work smarter, not harder. Working smarter means making better use of technology and information. Healthcare organizations are plagued by a lack of workers and clinicians adept at using IT. This lack of skill encompasses not only an understanding of hardware and software, but also how to use IT to enhance and improve all areas of patient care services. How often have we heard, “Wait until I retire, and then you can automate,” “It’s not in my job description,” or “I got into health care to help patients, not use a keyboard”?
Indeed, we tend to throw more bodies at broken processes instead of using technology to resolve problems. Other industries work more efficiently than health care because they have found ways to integrate technology with processes. Health care needs a more tech-savvy work force to accomplish such integration. Several key steps can be taken toward this goal.
Raise the bar. We need to set new expectations as to how technology is intrinsically linked to our business. Asking employees and clinicians to adopt technology is a way to help them grow professionally and help our organizations operate more efficiently. Technology is part of the toolkit we use to better deliver patient care. Accessing patient information electronically is a far cry from sifting through paper files and hoping that the documentation is complete.
The healthcare workforce, regardless of position, needs to be brought into the future. The bar should be raised so that all healthcare organization staff members possess technology skills.
Invest in your most critical asset: people. In difficult times, education and training tend to be cut from the budget. Yet a reduction in training leads to negative outcomes. To remain competitive in the market, we need ongoing education and training for staff. One way healthcare organizations can remain competitive and improve their staff’s skills is to provide technology-specific training as part of continuing education. This approach can position the training as a valued opportunity rather than a requirement.
Improve basic processes. Technology fails when we expect it to replicate our existing and often broken processes. Leaders need to ensure that technology investments achieve their expected ROI, which is more likely to occur when technology is implemented from a patient and front-line staff perspective. For example, physicians may want numerous appointment types in their scheduling template, whereas patients simply want the phone answered and an appointment available when they are sick. When schedulers are unsure of what type of appointment to schedule, they check with the physician and then call the patient back. Technology can enable patients to schedule their own appointments. Consumers manage their own transactions in other industries, from buying airline tickets and selecting their own seats to paying their bills and ordering gifts to be shipped to friends.
Evolution, not revolution. Change is never easy, but more often than not, the results make the journey worthwhile. Investing in technology-related training for the workforce can be considered necessary evolution of the organization rather than a revolution. No organization can afford to be static. Invite your workforce to join the professional evolution that will include an opportunity for them to develop new skills with technology as a strategy for growth and development.
Include training in your strategic business goals. Most healthcare organizations develop strategic business goals, which often include employee retention and satisfaction, especially in highly competitive areas. Efforts to build skills and provide growth opportunities for employees can lead to job satisfaction and productivity gains.
Find a partner. Staff training is costly, and in the current economy, it may be deemed unaffordable. Challenging times call for creative solutions, including seeking a partner to provide technology education to your staff. Potential partners include community colleges or universities and vendors. Vendors, for example, may have skilled staff who would be able to train some of your core staff members, who in turn would be able to train others in the organization. Having a core team of trainers will ensure the availability of training in the organization at any time.
In addition to looking outside of your organization for potential partners to assist in educating staff on healthcare IT, you should not overlook staff members who have an interest and competencies in training others. Managers need to ensure that the designated staff person receives the needed support and structure to perform the job successfully.
Involvement of internal stakeholders is the most critical aspect of successful implementation and use of technology. When these stakeholders participate in implementation and are empowered to correct deficiencies, acceptance levels are high and work flow improves.
Ensure executive sponsorship. The final key step for developing a viable and effective workforce training program for healthcare IT is executive sponsorship, including not only administrative executives, but also physician and clinical services executives. Multidisciplinary executive sponsorship confirms the organization’s commitment to the initiative.
Change should begin at and be nurtured from the top. These times demand more knowledgeable employees at every level of the organization. A technology-savvy workforce is more important than ever to ensure achievement of our short-term and long-term strategic business goals.
MarieAnn North, FACMPE, is CEO, Posada Consulting, Charlotte, N.C. (mnorththg@aol.com).
Lucy Mancini Newell, FHIMSS, is principal, The Stellar Group, Cary, Ill. (lmancininewell@earthlink.net).