Experience
In my professional life, I have experienced several strategy implementations that were made to improve care quality, patient outcomes, or staff satisfaction. Information Technology (IT) integration in primary care is one of the most successful strategies that I guided while introducing an electronic billing system for patients. As a result, they received better access to their health data as well as the opportunity to timely monitor and report any changes (Quammen, 2016). The application of the billing system also met the general organizational goal of ensuring effective care and making payment issues more transparent.
Along with the success of the mentioned strategy implementation, I have encountered such problems as a lack of staff awareness and resistance to using it, which is one of the key concerns arising at the first stages of technology introduction (Brooks & Fulton, 2019). The training organized to educate them proved to be insufficient due to improper planning and the failure to provide the preliminary needs analysis. As stated by Glaser and Salzberg (2011), great strategies have several ideas that can be verified against the practice. Accordingly, further focus on more detailed education and long-term support for new billing processes in my professional area allowed addressing the initial challenges.
Being a Leader
In today’s complex healthcare, it is essential to integrate technology advancement to streamline various processes and procedures. The billing system discussed in the previous post is based on data from the ambulatory EHR system and application programming interface (API), which allowed care providers to submit charges and patients to observe this information. Ingebrigtsen et al. (2014) emphasize that the usability of technology decisions becomes the key barrier to adopting it by the personnel at healthcare organizations. In this connection, the resistance of staff should be regarded by a leader as the key goal to overcome, which can be achieved through proper communication. In particular, one should agree with Quammen (2016), who states that leaders should engage and empower their employees to use IT in practice. A detailed presentation of the value of this billing system, including time, comfortability, and quality improvement perspectives, could be made.
Another potential issue in promoting better strategy implementation is associated with the technical skills and knowledge of leaders who are responsible for the change. It is evident that healthcare leaders cannot be fully aware of programming and system architectures, yet they should be able to explain the basics to their employees. A personal example and guidance during the strategy adoption are likely to significantly enhance its ultimate impacts (Quammen, 2016). More to the point, communication can be provided by means of group discussions and individual conversations with the staff, especially those employees who encounter problems with using the new system.
The execution of technology implementation could be accompanied by clear alignment with the organization’s mission and vision. In other words, the employees should comprehend why exactly they should apply the new billing system instead of the existing practice. The partnerships with IT specialists and organizations could also improve the very strategic thinking of the leader by directing his or her actions and perceptions of technology adoption needs (Kwei, 1998). Specific situations occurring in the course of change could be handled in terms of conflict management and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
The promotion of technology literacy is one more strategy to increase the motivation of the staff by explaining the need and significance of electronic billing implementation and IT development in general. A range of incentives may comprise conducting checks, examinations, courses, conferences, and grants to improve the qualifications of care providers, gaining experience in the implementation and operation of IT in medicine (Ingebrigtsen et al., 2014). Seminars and lectures could be held on what is needed to enhance the quality of care, treat patients, and increase the speed of completing necessary documents. The leader could also make sure that the institutions are equipped with the Internet and adequate access to the proposed technology.
The confusion of goals may occur when nurse managers are not inclined to build teamwork, the absence of which is compensated for by relying on a narrow circle of trusted representatives, and the process of getting into this circle is often non-formalized and opaque to other people. The role of leadership is to prevent this situation by connecting the stakeholders participating in the process of innovation implementation. According to Ingebrigtsen et al. (2014), the unity of science, theory, and practice should provide healthcare not only with fundamentally new ways of diagnosing and treating a wide variety of diseases but also with modern methods of quality management. It is possible only through the timely and effective integration of people, resources, and systems involved in care provision. The continuous process of updating medical technologies, ensuring an increase in the effectiveness of treatment and prevention, requires the formation and support of targeted programs in priority areas of healthcare (Kwei, 1998). Thus, the proactive approach of a leader towards change is the most important aspect of the successful transition from the convenient practice to the new billing method.
References
Brooks, P. B., & Fulton, M. E. (2019). Demonstrating advanced practice provider value: Implementing a new advanced practice provider billing algorithm. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 31(2), 93-103.
Glaser, J., & Salzberg, C. (2011). The strategic application of information technology (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ingebrigtsen, T., Georgiou, A., Clay-Williams, R., Magrabi, F., Hordern, A., Prgomet, M.,… Braithwaite, J. (2014). The impact of clinical leadership on health information technology adoption: Systematic review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 83(6), 393-405.
Kwei, R. (1998). Aligning business and IT strategy. Health Management Technology, 19(2), 72-74.
Quammen, B. (2016). The case for healthcare tech: The time to make IT strategy is now. Health Management Technology, 37(2), 32.