A Clinical Perspective on Large-Scale Healthcare IT Implementations

In an 18-month period, amid the upheaval caused by COVID-19, MEDHOST executed a large-scale corporate healthcare IT (HIT) implementation for a customer that involved more than 20 facilities.

Our joint success would not have been possible without the direct engagement and involvement of the essential caregivers at those facilities.

In today’s increasingly challenging healthcare market, healthcare organizations are implementing more sophisticated and complex EHRs (electronic health records), with solutions spanning the continuum of care.  What once was an IT driven project has become an organizational-wide campaign. In order to successfully manage and execute these implementations, clinical users must be engaged early and often. This engagement creates an understanding of how to:

• Use clinicians’ day-to-day experiences guide the construction of a HIT solution
• Provide a consistent application of organizational policies and procedures
• Ensure collaboration between clinical users and hospital leadership supports effective project management

Understanding the Clinical Perspective in HIT Implementations

One of the biggest roadblocks to a successful healthcare IT implementation project is the lack of key stakeholder involvement, more specifically, the clinician. Oftentimes, a new HIT implementation comes with changes, and some of the most difficult to embrace changes are the ones that require new workflows. This is where clinical perspectives provide the greatest value.

The clinical user possesses insights that have benefit to both the hospital and vendor. These insights inform and direct the standardization of HIT workflows and protocols to accurately reflect a clinical user’s everyday needs. When the clinical perspective is prioritized, implementations move forward with greater progress.

For example, it can be easy for both physicians and nurses to get stuck on how things used to be done. When clinicians are empowered to engage in HIT implementations—discovery meetings, workflow designs, training sessions—their energy turns from thinking about how change creates disruption, to collaborating on ways to envision a final product that works best for them, the organization, and their patients.

From my perspective as a nurse practitioner, I saw empowered clinicians demonstrate a willingness and desire to understand and engage during a recent multi-facility implementation that resulted in:

• Increased facility-wide confidence and trust throughout an EHR implementation
• Fewer disruptions to care during complex transitional periods
• Well-tuned HIT platforms and workflows that meet my care planning needs
• Clearly outlined best practices and educational materials that promote learning
• A renewed energy towards better quality care fueled by established standards that make sense

A clinical perspective is also helpful in bridging gaps in the implementation of new functionality, as well as helping coordinate the design and communication of such changes within a large clinical population.

Managing HIT Implementations with a Clinical Perspective

Engaging role-based user’s and gaining an understanding of their experience during implementations is important but should also be an ongoing endeavor.

When clinical stakeholders are closely partnered with role-based specialists and account managers, together we are able to:

• Increase operational efficiency by creating onsite experiences that offer real-time assistance and resolution—clinicians supported by clinicians
• Improve quality of care via clear roadmaps to preferred clinical outcomes and patient experiences that extend throughout the facility
• Drive regulatory and corporate compliance through standardization, ensuring that best practice workflows are developed well in advance of onsite training and go-live

MEDHOST promotes an environment of trust, professionalism, and confidence with all our partners. We value clinical users’ feedback and engage them early on and often. These values put into practice help catapult implementations towards successful outcomes. The result is an effective solution that works for clinicians, simplifies processes, and minimizes disruptions

To learn more about the MEDHOST implementations and how we partner with healthcare organizations to optimize clinical, financial, and operational performance, email us at inquiries@medhost.com or call 1.800.383.6278.