Achieving a high-performing healthcare facility is no easy task. This is especially true if you are going through a software and process conversion. There are many components to consider and processes to understand thoroughly to be successful. It would be easy to say there is one absolute path to take but in reality, every environment is different and requires a similar yet unique approach.

There are four important key management strategies that your organization should objectively explore. The outcome of your exploration will help create a high performing healthcare facility.

Communications: Knowing your specific team and what drives them is essential for managing success. Identifying your team’s strengths and weaknesses are also crucial when considering workplace systems and performance. Obtaining the teams buy into the constantly changing environment is vital to your success. Ask your staff for open and honest feedback!

Data: In today’s world, data is paramount, especially the clear and concise data needed to run a highly functioning healthcare facility. Data allows decision-making to become easier and removes any human bias like speculative hunches. It is not to say that personal experience should not be a consideration. Instead, it should be used jointly with precise and accurate data.

Software Selection: Preparing for conversion of any kind is no small task. Coordinating a conversion that involves transitioning any process to a software system must include specific cultural and operational considerations. When these aren’t accounted for early in the preparation process, organizations can run into work redundancy, disgruntle staff and reduced productivity. Mismanaged conversions can have severe financial consequences that limit an organization’s capacity to function. Take, for instance, the Department of Defense’s electronic health record software that was dubbed “operationally unsuitable” in independent reviews that is currently $300 million over budget. While it is hard to say what is happening in this particular situation, oftentimes the issue again lies within the project preparation, cultural issues and the process itself.

Employee Engagement and Creativity: This is probably the most difficult area to make changes yet also the area where changes equate to the most effective positive shift. Consider that according to Gallup, in the State of the American Workplace Report “When organizations successfully engage their customers and employees, they experience a 240% boost in performance-related business outcomes” yet “Only 22% of U.S. employees are engaged and thriving.” Along those same lines, innovations grow out of creativity. So, “that means for an organization to thrive you need leaders who excel at fostering creative work” according to Korn Ferry Institute.

With a number like 240%, it is easy to see where the untapped potential is within your organization. But the issue comes in when implementing strategies to boost engagement. Furthermore, according to Korn Ferry Research, “leaders who create a negative emotional climate are most likely to have direct reports who plan to leave the company within the year.” So, not only is there untapped potential for employee engagement, but there is an urgent need to do so to avoid a “knowledge vacuum” when employees leave.

In summary, there are several steps you can take to create a high-performing healthcare facility, however, in the end, it is always the staff and how they interact with each other within the processes and software workflow. Make sure to value the investment in your team just as much as you invest in new technologies and software because, without the people to run them, you have nothing. To find out more read 5 vital steps that need to take place before the implementation and possibly the selection of the new software system.

Sunlit Cove Healthcare Consultants

We provide management and consulting services to help healthcare businesses run efficiently. Navigating the dynamic and complex revenue cycle management is a challenge for many health plans, health care vendors, and providers. Our consulting services are available to assist with your day-to-day operations and provide expertise in growth and change management. We manage all aspects of your enterprise from the development of the revenue cycle management process to the completion of your business cycle.

Related: Policy and Procedure Development and Implementation