Introduction to Change in Healthcare with BPR
Business process reengineering (BPR) in healthcare provides a transformative approach that redesigns the way that healthcare processes and organizations operate. In this third part of our series on BPR, we focus on the importance of technical solutions and organizational changes being aligned, as well as the importance of stakeholders avoiding conflicting views, both of which can hinder the implementation of BPR. This makes it harder for BPR to improve workflows, decrease redundancies, and improve user satisfaction.
Changes in the Technological Solution
Although BPR is an effective way of implementing new technical solutions such as EHR systems or telehealth platforms, it can be challenging when these technical solutions change or no longer align with existing workflows. This can lead to disruption rather than improvement. For instance, if healthcare professionals are not effectively trained on the new systems or technologies, or if the technologies are not user-friendly, it can result in reduced productivity, increased resistance, and more overall frustration among staff. Furthermore, this misalignment in successful user adoption can decrease patient care due to decreased productivity and potentially increase administrative burden from having to adapt to unwanted changes.
Furthermore, as discussed above, a mid-project change in technical solutions can disrupt established workflows and processes. This is because employees may have started to adapt to a new system or tool, and then it suddenly changes, leading to confusion and inefficiencies. New technologies may also require staff to be retained, which can temporarily pause productivity as staff must navigate the new learning curve. Ultimately changing technical solutions mid-project can affect patient care due to the disruption in effective service delivery. Additionally, changing technical solutions mid-project can lead to further resistance to change and make the implementation process more difficult overall. Therefore, a thorough change management plan is needed, which outlines potential risks associated with technological changes and outlines plans to address them. Furthermore, engaging stakeholders early on and maintaining open lines of communication is crucial in managing expectations. Lastly, there should be mechanisms in place that obtain feedback from stakeholders throughout the implementation process so that these issues can be identified and addressed early on.
Aligning Stakeholder Needs During Organizational Changes
BPR often involves organizational changes, which can affect who the stakeholders, healthcare providers, administrative staff, and even patients are. Furthermore, when stakeholders change midway through a project and have differing views on the direction of the changes, it can create a fragmented implementation. For instance, if previous stakeholders were focused on decreasing costs, but the new staff is focused on improving the quality of care and patient outcomes, there can be a misalignment in goals that hinders improvement and implementation. Furthermore, this can lead to confusion regarding goals and processes, as well as diminished morale among staff. Therefore, it’s important that even when there is an organizational change, all stakeholders are engaged throughout the BPR process to ensure their perspectives are considered. This leads to a more cohesive approach, ultimately resulting in a smoother implementation. Furthermore, facilitating open dialogue and continuous feedback from stakeholders can ensure that the organization moves forward in a unified manner.
The Importance of Alignment in BPR
Overall, although BPR provides enhanced efficiency and improved patient outcomes, it requires an alignment in both the implementation of technical solutions, as well as within the organization. This means that plans must be made when the technological solution and/or the organization changes. This means that there must be a thoughtful approach that considers how these changes affect user adoption as well as current workflows and processes. Ultimately, by addressing potential misalignments early on, and fostering collaboration and engagement among stakeholders, these changes can be effectively addressed. Therefore, prioritizing alignment in BPR will lead to a smoother transition during adoption, and also provide improvements in healthcare delivery, which benefits both patients and providers.
HITS
HITS provides healthcare management services & works with doctors to develop health informatics tools that promote safe and secure care. We take pride in our services and settle for nothing other than 100% quality solutions for our clients. Having the right team assist with data sharing is crucial to encouraging collaborative and secure care. HITS also focuses on transforming health care by analyzing integrated medical solutions and evaluating information systems. Our goal is to enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve patient care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship by incorporating HCD practices.