A Team Approach to Health IT Implementation

A Team Approach to Health IT Implementation

Hospitals have dedicated tremendous resources to create an integrated clinical environment that results in better patient care and outcomes, reduces readmissions, and increases hospital utilization, in hopes of reducing the overall cost of health care.

Unfortunately, health IT projects either fall short of business and clinical goals or are completely abandoned at an astonishing rate. Studies vary, but failure-rate estimates range from 35% to 75%.

Overrun budgets and functionality problems are often cited as the primary culprits of doomed implementations. However, the failure to include direct-care clinical staff—including nurses—in the evaluation, implementation, and training of new technology should not be overlooked.

It’s easy to consider a new hardware or software solution and imagine its transformative potential. Health care trade shows brim with thousands of devices, enterprise systems, and software applications marketed as painless solutions for any clinical challenge facing a hospital or care unit. But a poorly implemented system that did not evaluate the impact to the clinical workflow can just as easily exacerbate inefficiencies and reduce the overall quality of patient care.

Equipment that doesn’t work properly or causes needless redundancies in daily tasks is enormously frustrating. The lack of sufficient training and vendor support increases the chances of mistakes or encourages direct-care staff to either work around a new solution or outright revolt at go-live.

A Shared Vision

Many of the doomsday scenarios associated with technology adoption and implementation can be mitigated with adequate planning, training, and collaboration. By listening to, engaging with, and educating front-line staff, hospitals can dramatically increase their chances of success with technology adoption.

For example, consider medical devices with alarm capabilities. Nursing staff are charged with the proper setting of the alarms and the prompt response when any of the devices send an alert. As the presence of alarm equipment continues to grow, nurses find their workflow and ability to engage with patients disrupted as they chase down hundreds of (often non-actionable) alarms. Without proper education and implementation of alarm devices, it’s all too easy to imagine clinical staff arbitrarily adjusting alarm settings—or even turning them off entirely.

Involving direct-care staff is critical to the success of any new technology. How will this new technology impact how nurses deliver patient care? What adjustments in workflow and practice need to be made—at go-live and beyond? Starting with these questions fosters buy-in from the staff who will be utilizing this equipment. If end-users are not involved in the selection, adoption, and implementation of a technology, then the likelihood that they will become owners of that product is significantly lower.

Environmental and Workflow Assessments

Hospitals each have their own unique characteristics, culture, and needs. Identifying and documenting those attributes are critical to any successful health IT implementation. To achieve measurable progress in health IT adoption requires that hospitals identify and support internal champions in all relevant departments.

For hospitals and health systems, especially those that are breaking ground on new technology integration, the first step is an assessment of needs and potential impact to workflow. The formidable task list that comes with any technology implementation requires the input and expertise of a project team, which ideally, should be comprised of leadership from myriad stakeholders, including IT networking, facilities, patient safety experts, educators, informatics nurses, laboratory staff, pharmacists, electrical engineers, biomedical engineers, quality improvement specialists, vendors, and direct-care clinical staff . This team will be responsible for every phase of deployment—evaluation, acquisition, rollout, implementation, and transition to live operations. They will determine the hospital’s objectives and integration goals, as well as vendor evaluations, business and clinical requirements, risk management concerns, patient safety goals, and costs.

The project team will also be charged with identifying the departments or units the integration will first impact. Big bang, enterprise integrations are not unprecedented, but a phased roll out in a single department or set of departments with the highest acuity, such as the surgical suite, allows more time and space for assessments, lessons learned, and best practices, which can be applied as the integration spreads to the rest of the enterprise.

One aspect of integration that is often overlooked is the value of clinical workflow, which can vary among hospitals and individual units. Workflow should not be minimized because it will largely define how data is collected, how it is displayed, and what is displayed. Hospitals should incorporate clinical workflow as quickly and as early as possible in the process.

Designating a nursing champion—or super-user—at the outset allows other nurses and direct-care clinical staff to receive information, training, and support during all phases of adoption. These super-users would be working closely with the interdisciplinary team assembled for the implementation project.

Vendor Partnerships

Health IT implementations can be expensive, complex, involve dozens of stakeholders, and are often up against aggressive deadlines. Technology can also be disruptive and bring new uncertainties to the entire organization. However, the quality of the relationship with the vendor supplying the solution can make a huge difference.

Any hospital or health system has business and clinical needs and cultures that make them different from other organizations. A partner with deep knowledge of the unique aspects of your organization not only will help you avoid common mistakes, but also keep you focused on detailed integration points and workflows.

A partner that knows your organization also helps other vendors get acclimated, provides guidance, and ensures everyone stays accountable. A positive and fruitful collaboration allows hospitals to establish benchmarks and ensure that configurations and interoperability are optimized and seamless.

An excellent vendor also acts as a consultant and educator, making hospital staff comfortable with new technology and uncovering strategies for optimizing workflow. The importance of evaluating the vendor as much as the product they are delivering cannot be stressed enough. Vendors that lack expertise, training capabilities and clear steps toward go-live and beyond are critical red flags.

Can the vendor explain their process? Can they share metrics? Do they offer continued training and support after the implementation is complete? Answers to these questions will give your project team keen insights into the potential challenges of a technology implementation.

If your vendor supplies references, ask their customers specifically about their specific challenges and the vendor resolved them. Setbacks are a natural part of any implementation, but the true difference maker is determining the level of support and collaboration provided to overcome it.

A team approach to health IT doesn’t guarantee that technology adoption and implementation will be a success—but it will significantly increase its chances of sustainability. Today’s nurses have neither the desire nor the option to be passive consumers of health care technology. The seamless integration of technology requires that direct-care clinical staff have influence in the design and testing of equipment and applications. Involving end-users in the early stages of system analysis and design specifications can lead to better adoption of new technology, as well as identifying how current technology can be adapted for greater user acceptance.

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