Transforming Healthcare IT: Prioritizing Operational Excellence

A frustrated Healthcare IT Director with over two decades of experience told me, 

To make meaningful improvements substantial investment of resources (time, personnel, and money) is required. This often necessitates delaying other projects and reprioritizing tasks.  Therefore, organizations frequently fail to prioritize these operational improvements, even when the long-term benefits are clear.

Barriers to Operational Success

To effectively tackle these operational inefficiencies, organizations need to cultivate a culture that values process optimization efforts.  However, several cultural norms often seen in healthcare IT hinder the investment in operational process improvement initiatives. These include:

• Short-Term Focus:  Many organizations prioritize short-term gains over long-term benefits.  This focus is often driven by quarterly performance metrics, immediate financial returns, and the desire to show quick wins.  IT departments are frequently encouraged to pursue "low-hanging fruit" projects, focusing resources on perceived quick wins without assessing the total cost to value ratio including resource allocation and actual outcome benefit.  This ties up resources for limited localized gains at the expense of larger, broader efforts.

• Risk Aversion:  There's a cultural tendency to avoid risks, especially when the payoff is not immediate.  Investing in long-term process improvement projects can be perceived as risky because the benefits are not guaranteed and may take time to materialize.

• Performance Pressure:  Employees and managers are often under pressure to deliver immediate results.  This pressure can discourage taking the time to invest in improvements that won't show results right away.

• Change Resistance:  Organizational inertia and resistance to change can prevent the adoption of new practices and technologies.  People are often comfortable with the status quo and hesitant to disrupt it for uncertain future benefits.

• Resource Constraints:  Limited resources (time, money, personnel) often lead to prioritizing projects with immediate and direct customer impact.  When resources are scarce, operational processes improvement investments can seem like a luxury.

The Long Game: Cultivating a Culture of Operational Excellence 

Understanding these cultural norms is crucial for developing strategies to overcome them and fostering an environment that values and invests in operational process improvements.  Organizations need to think beyond presumed and “promised” technological wins in healthcare IT and establish sustainable practices. 

Here are some strategies that can help:

• Incentive Alignment:  Measure the value and performance of processes and adjust reward and recognition systems to support not only following processes but also encouraging feedback and improvement recommendations.  Monitoring the effectiveness of expected processes incentivizes staff to follow the process and ensures it provides value and enhances outcomes rather than generating red tape and bureaucratic overhead.  This establishes an environment that fosters repeatable practices that support organizational performance and achievements.

• Change Management and Education:  Use structured change management frameworks to overcome resistance to change and help communicate the impact of operational processes that improve or hinder organizational achievement.  Implement programs to raise awareness and provide reminders of the long-term gains achieved from effective processes.  

• Resource Allocation:  Establish dedicated staff time and budget for continually optimizing processes.  This ensures staff have the necessary resources without competing with other needs.  Additionally, form cross-functional teams or committees to monitor and work on operational process improvement.  This can help break down silos, decrease duplication and conflict, and leverage diverse perspectives and expertise.

• Continuous Improvement Values:  Integrate long-term continuous improvement thinking into the organization’s core values and mission statement.  Regularly reinforce these values through internal communications and activities.  Utilize iterative implementation techniques to manage change and recognize immediate results.  This also allows for flexibility and adjustments based on ongoing feedback.  Maintain motivation by celebrating process wins that highlight how effective operational processes contribute to organizational successes.

• Risk Management:  Develop risk management plans to address uncertainties associated with operational process changes.  This includes contingency plans, measuring impact, maintaining active operational process review committees and conducting regular assessments.  Additionally, report and track when risk is created due to poor processes and failures to follow established practices.

• Stakeholder Engagement:  Involve a broad range of stakeholders in the decision-making and development of operational process changes.  This not only helps build consensus and reduce resistance but also establishes a platform for organizational transparency.  Maintaining transparency about the progress and challenges of operational process development builds trust and incentivizes adoption.

• Leadership Commitment:  Leaders must lead by example, following the processes, reviewing outcomes, and responding based on results.  By making meaningful process adjustments based on the outcomes, the organization is continuously incentivized to utilize the processes and provide meaningful feedback, fostering continuous improvement.   When leaders clearly articulate the long-term benefits of investing in improvements and demonstrate how these investments align with achieving the organization’s short and long-terms goals, they foster the adoption of operational processes that support high-performing environments.

By implementing these strategies, organizations can create an environment that supports and values operational investments, ultimately leading to sustained growth and success.

How MAKE Solutions Can Help

MAKE’s operational excellence team and services help organizations develop and improve their operational practices impacting healthcare IT and Informatics delivery and management.  Our workshops teach organizations to capture and connect real-time data, conduct reviews, document and communicate processes, and monitor effectiveness.