Wright Consulting

Rarely, in a healthcare acquisition due diligence effort will the technology findings materially impact the final decision, but they can certainly help once the deal is completed - if the technology due diligence effort is comprehensive - not just counting servers and establishing financial application risks!  A thorough evaluation would acknowledge what business systems need to be enhanced to maximize efficiencies and improve growth.   The analysis should include the infrastructure and implementation costs of the new systems, as well.  Upon close, immediate  execution of those findings could help the new owner’s recognize their financial expectations - perhaps even in a shorter time frame than projected.

Many healthcare organizations have minimized their information technology “spend” over the past decade to simply cover the basics.  Technology has not really been viewed by executives as a potential business revenue differientator. Now,  with the movement towards quality measures, electronic medical records, transparency and business intelligence requirements a greater investment in technology is being considered by many.  I would advise executive teams to seek out a proven process and subject matter expertise  from both a business and technology perspective and devise a “roadmap”, ” strategy”, “architecture”, “gameplan” that considers all priorities and  associated weights.   Do not let projects commence individually within your organization - they need to “fit” into a longterm plan to reap maximum benefits.

The caution “Yellow” light items that CEO’s need to observe when pursuing an EMR system implementation fall into 2 major categories Project management and Change management - which are typical high risk processes for any major project. ” YELLOW LIGHTS”  include:

1. Clear scope - precise definition of what the company expects as results/deliverables/return on investment.

2. Implementation investment - the hardware/software component is straightforward, but the resource and revenue impacts need to be carefully analyzed.  Supplemental resources may be helpful, but insure a defined transition plan for knowledge and skill to internal employees.

3. Integration of current systems and processes - if the existing clinical and operational processes and  systems are not carefully considered as to how they “fit in” the newly defined EMR system negative impacts to staff,  patients and revenue may result.  System security and process credibility are imperative to insure.

4.  Accountability - the decision making and execution process  needs to have executive sponsorship both from a management and clinical perspective.  Physician buy-in is pivotal to the overall success.

5.  Communication Planning - a communication plan needs to be outlined and managed by the project team to insure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and understood.  A process for all corporate team members and stakeholders  to share thoughts and ideas needs to be defined.  Project milestones  and issues need to be made public internally.  This level of communication is essential for the project team  morale and ultimate successful project completion.

Several of these concepts are further discussed in this month’s issue of Healthcare Executive a periodical published by ache.org