creating value through technology in healthcare

CREATING VALUE THROUGH

TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE

Sameer Sule

Healthcare Technology Consultant

KINARA | INSIGHTS creating value through technology

IT Projects

Expectations

vs

Reality

2/24/2014 www.kinarainsights.com 2

IT Under Pressure

To demonstrate VALUE


What is Value?

Noun

the importance, worth, or usefulness of something

a person's principles or standards of behavior

one's judgment of what is important in life

Verb

estimate the monetary worth of (something).

consider (someone/something) to be important or

beneficial

have a high opinion of


How is Value Measured?

Must always be outcomes based!

• Qualitative – Direct/Indirect

• Quantitative – Direct

• Perceived

Like Beauty, Value lies in the Eyes of the Beholder


Value can be Dynamic

In Normal times - Not appreciated

During Emergencies - Highly appreciated

Value of a Disaster Recovery Plan - Highly

appreciated only during an emergency


Defining Value in Healthcare

• Patient health outcomes achieved per dollar

spent

• If value improves, patients, payers, providers, and

suppliers can all benefit while the economic

sustainability of the health care system increases

(Michael E. Porter, Ph.D -New England Journal of Medicine, Dec 2010)


Technology is an Enabler

Supports business needs and objectives

must be

Functional and Beneficial


How does Technology create Value?

• For the Patient

• For the Provider

• For the Healthcare Organization

Must Deliver Positive Outcomes


Potential Outcomes/Benefits

• Reduced patient cancellations or no-shows

• Reduced wait time for patients

• More time with patients and less time filling charts

• Improved ability to explain medical conditions to patients through software animations

Improve Quality of Care Delivered


Potential Benefits continued…

• Reduced 30 day hospital readmission rate

• Increased provider productivity by reducing time spent on returning phone calls

• Increased efficiency through better communication b/w staff and other providers

• Correct co-pay collection before each patient visit

Improve Operational Efficiency


Demonstrating Value of Technology

• Return of Investment (ROI) based on Value delivered

• Demonstrate value based on outcomes achieved

• How did the intended recipient benefit?

• Was it worth the cost?

Not all Value can be Measured

ROI might be Difficult to Calculate


Value of a Technology Investment

V𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 =𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒

𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡

Clearly Define Desired Outcomes


Keep the End in Mind

• What is the goal? Is it improving efficiency, making you more productive, lowering your costs, enabling better communications with your patients, staff or business partners?

• Visualize your workflow after implementing the solution. How would it change the workflow?

• How much training will your staff need? Anticipate initial drop in productivity until the staff is trained

Have Realistic Expectations


To Invest or Not To

• Is investing $$ in technology now going to make

or save you $$$$$$ in the future?

• What would happen if you didn’t make the

investment?

Bigger Risk: Investing or Not Investing?


Options

• In-house development

• Custom development from outside vendor

• Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software

• Cloud based solutions

Evaluate Pros & Cons


Research the Market

• Lots of vendors

• Can be overwhelming to sort through them

• Don’t take a short cut - will lead to more time spent later

fixing the mess

Invest Time in the Research Process


Interview Different Vendors

• Clearly communicate your desired outcomes

• Ask specific questions on how the solution addresses

your needs

• Run actual workflow scenarios and see if the vendor can

address them

• Check out product demos. Ask about post implementation

support


Convince Yourself

• Find out if the vendor have worked with other healthcare

organizations similar in size to yours

• Inquire about their HIPAA compliance measures

• Ask for and check references

Make Sure that the Solution meets your

Desired Outcomes


Take these Steps

• View IT as an investment

• Define specific investment outcomes

• Evaluate options. Do your research

• Determine time and cost including upfront and ongoing

operational costs afterwards

• Allocate time after technology implementation for staff

training

• Factor in potential loss of productivity and revenue during

training time

Be Practical and Realistic


Make IT Work for You

Create Value through Technology

for your Organization


THANK YOU

Sameer Sule

Healthcare Technology Consultant

Author: Protecting Electronic Health Information: A Practical Approach

to Patient Data Security in Your Healthcare Practice

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/sameersule

Blog: http://www.kinarainsights.com/blog.html

Connect with me:

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sameer-sule/7/b1b/511

Twitter:@sameersule


http://www.amazon.com/author/sameersule

http://www.kinarainsights.com/blog.html

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sameer-sule/7/b1b/511



