Making Culture Your Ally in Clinic management system Implementation

Posted by Rajpatil on August 8th, 2016

The case history described by Joy provides instructive insights into achieving success with clinic management system and tackling arguably the most challenging barrier of all, organizational culture. Instead of something to be feared, a renewed and revitalized culture can be your most important ally, as Joy discovered. Of all the approaches we have practiced and observed over the last 25 years as consultants to the health care industry, we believe the following ten are the most powerful and most likely to lead to making organizational culture your ally vs. your worst nightmare.

Create Passion for the Vision, Mission, Values and Strategies

Whatever reason your organization has for embarking on a clinic management system initiative, make sure that all key stakeholders know, understand, and embrace the objectives and can articulate what we are doing and why we are doing it. Success for this huge undertaking will require a ubiquitous commitment to quality care, and many specific goals such as eliminating medical errors, waste, delays, unnecessary variance as well as improving patient satisfaction and your strategic positioning.

Measure Readiness Early and Conduct Periodic Check-ups

A formal assessment of readiness for clinic management system will help you understand the major barriers you have to overcome. Assessing readiness and undertaking a readiness improvement effort is as vital for this type of initiative as physical training is for a marathon runner. Readiness can be measured in many ways, including: Technical Readiness, Workflow Readiness, Culture Readiness, Financial Readiness, and Project Management Readiness. We know this is a lot of readiness, but it's a critical part of successful implementation.

Communicate and Train Early and Often

We believe it is important for all stakeholders to understand (and articulate!) what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what are the costs and benefits of the undertaking. We also understand that most stakeholders will require new skills and capabilities to succeed in a new clinic management system environment, so it is important to provide substantial training so people can learn the new mechanics of clinic management system. Best results are achieved if the clinic management system initiative is treated like a major construction program; all the way down to the Pardon Our Dust posters that beg patience for current problems while providing hope for a much better future.

 Identify and Satisfy the Needs of Individual Stakeholders

You must identify the key stakeholder groups and the opinion leaders within each. Once you understand what their major needs are, work with them to ensure that the clinic management system project can meet those needs as much as possible. It is our experience that adoption happens more quickly and thoroughly if everyone gets as much of what they want as possible.

Pick Champions Carefully at all Levels

Every major cause needs a legion of champions. We believe these champions can be identified, encouraged, and given roles that create leverage throughout the organization. You don't need Superman or Superwoman, just opinion leaders who are respected by their peers, have the ability to perform, a positive attitude, thick skins and have high endurance. After all, this type of initiative is a marathon, not a sprint!

8. Excitement Overcomes Fear of Change

We have learned many fundamental truths over the years, one of which is: A clear vision of the destination creates enthusiasm for the journey. It's also very important to be truthful about how long and arduous the journey will be. Champions will be able to lead the organization through The Valley of Despair if everyone believes that the end result will be better. We also know that there will be people who try mightily but are unable to complete the journey; carry them, and give them new and more appropriate roles.

9. Use Speed to Your Advantage

As evidenced by the UIMC example above, the faster you get to benefits, the faster the organization will embrace the initiative, and the quicker you can make organizational culture your ally. We encourage using three different and powerful mechanisms: Speed to High Performing Teams, Speed to Implementation, and Speed to Value.

10. Engage Professional Management and Chose the Right Guide

Recognize that the selection and implementation of a clinic management system is a major undertaking, and most likely the one and only time most people in your organization will experience this in their entire careers. The cost of mistakes is very high and the probability of success is increased substantially with full-time professional program management. There is no reason to undertake this transformation alone, and the right professional guide can make all the difference in the world. Pick a consultant or expert who has a proven track record, understands your unique circumstances, acts like a guide and not a dictator, and will work with your organization.

Most health care executives state that their most vivid nightmare about a clinic management system implementation is the fear of clinic management system-rejection by the organizations culture. Newton asserts that a body at rest will tend to stay at rest, and a body in motion will tend to stay in motion. We assert that if you apply the key points in this article, you will avoid the nightmare, avoid being stuck at rest, and be able to keep your organizational body in motion as you confidently charge ahead along your positive journey of progress.

Source: http://www.articles.gappoo.com/2015-Article-Directory/making-culture-your-ally-clinic-management-system-implementation