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Historically, the roles that women have held in technology have been few and far between. In the stereotypical American business world, the women with actual “pure” technical degrees involving programming, database structures and system architecture were very few and often from diverse cultures. Technology was considered to be a man’s world - pocket protectors and stringing cable. It was not until “attention to detail” become measurable in the aspects of scope definition and functional requirements - spawning the emphasis on Project Management - did new roles for women emerge. Women rapidly became Centers of Influence in organizations that promoted the use of Project Management. You can find these women in corporate Information Technology departments, separate business units (PMO’s or Business Analysis). They may have roles that align functionally to the basic business groups such as Accounting, Sales, Operations. They may be independent outside consultants. The common thread is that all Centers of Influence have the same characteristics that are perceived by others - they are Authorative, Powerful, and Motivating. “Perception is Reality” that is Influence.
Need to select an EMR software and get it implemented in time to take advantage of the stimulus funding? Too many choices to choose from - especially if you do not know how to effectively narrow the scope. How do you perform a software selection and get it right? Between determining functionality needs, assessing vendor & your own internal resources, navigating price structures - both initial and ongoing maintenance - the whole process can be daunting.
Especially when the market is flooded with vendors hawking their products and in many cases these sales & implementation people are new to the business - especially healthcare - clinical staff rules & regs?, quality guidelines?, HIPPA?, CMS audits? - What? As a clinician or an administrator concerned for patient care - the lack of healthcare knowledge amongst the software vendor implementation staffs can be disconcerting.
The various software vendors providing EMR solutions have recently been ranked by Black Book - division of market research group Brown-Wilson. The rankings are broken down between physician office (varying physician numbers) and hospitals (varying bed count) and Emergency room software. To see the breakdown and to get a starting point for selection - go to http://www.healthcareitnews.com.
If you want help sorting through the details and helping you formulate a plan of action and execution - send me an email via my contact page to schedule a time to talk - best of luck.
Starting out on the “right foot” is imperative for healthcare organizations to succeed - when commencing a major project. Let’s keep in mind that with the HiTech Act - that the projects facing healthcare organizations are larger in scope and size than they have probably ever dealt with previously. TWO key stepping stones for a successful beginning are characterized with the following titles - “Everybody needs a voice” and “Everybody needs a little education”. What is vital for the project success is to allow for each group within the organization to VOICE their existing/ongoing needs and understand how they can benefit from the prioritized project that is commencing. You are in effect giving the leaders of the organization an update on the business & technology strategy plan. Hopefully, there is a plan - if not, its time to formulate one - or you will be faced with the continual naysayers in pivotal positions constantly undermining efforts because they do not understand the big picture and how their needs will be addressed. Once the VOICE has been heard, documented, and responded to - its time for EDUCATION. Very few leaders of healthcare organizations realize the importance of their stake holder roles and need to have a brief course in project management - how it will impact them, their teams. Its about leadership and accountability and it starts at the top. Somebody, very credible, needs to deliver this message and make sure that it gets heard. The education should entail some measurement and escalation practices. I have executed these two steps during numerous successful engagements - let me know if I can be of further help.
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
After reviewing numerous case studies on EMR implementations, it seems to me many healthcare organizations are not aware of the importance of quality project management. We need to recognize that most of these companies do not often adopt major system changes. They are using basic scheduling, inventory and billing systems that require mininum maintenance and information technology intervention. Project management is not a required skill-set or talent for the organization to achieve success in ordinary times. Education on project management benefits, scaling the materials appropriately to the organization’s culture and identifying key stakeholders that will embrace the methodology are pivotal to the success of project management adoption - and a successful EMR implementation.
