Every technology discussion is dependent upon context. In healthcare, we have challenges with payment, indigent care, and government regulation, to name just three. In order to consider this context, Clinical Informatics begins every strategic planning process with a focus on your mission. We assist you in the process of identifying your goals and converting them into action in a way that is consistent with your mission and reflects the challenges and idiosyncracies of our healthcare system.
The successful operation of technology as a tool is dependent upon organizational structure and interactions between clinical and non-clinical personnel. In many organizations, there are separate clinical and non-clinical organizational issues. All aspects of the impact of technology on your organization need to be considered in your bylaws, policies, and procedures.
It is common for a technology not to be an exact fit with your existing processes or workflow, but it is very difficult to tackle this problem if processes and workflow have not been formally documented. Successful organizations start by identifying where they are before considering where they want to go. Documentation of existing processes and workflow is an important starting point and the transitional adjustments to both are an important part of successful incorporation of technology into daily practice.
Organizations occasionally have difficulty obtaining broad support from clinical personnel. It is important to be explicit and forthcoming about the effort involved in technological change. Clinical Informatics can assist your organization in emphasizing both the benefits and challenges to be expected from implementation of the technical solutions that you are considering.
An understanding of existing and emerging trends in public policy can confer a competitive advantage on technology vendors. Through active participation in state and national policy efforts, Clinical Informatics can provide insight that can enhance your ability to better position your products and services.
What is your goal? What are you trying to accomplish? Clinical Informatics can assist you as an unbiased facilitator to develop strategic initiatives based on your mission and goals in the context of state and federal policy and regulations, and in consideration of current and anticipated responses by healthcare organizations.
The most common cause of technology failure is not listening to your users. Success of your products and services can depend upon the efficacy of your communication and responsiveness. In addition, what is simple and obvious for a developer is often neither simple nor obvious to a clinician, and may in fact mean something very different. With a background in technology, policy, governance, and clinical practice, Clinical Informatics can be a supportive translator in the communication process and can quickly identify usability problems and inconsistencies.
On occasion, your company may require specialized informatics expertise. Clinical Informatics has worked with vendors to assist in the creation of content for their development projects.
Agencies must balance the needs of multiple stakeholders with highly varied perspectives when creating and revising policy. This is an important objective, but a difficult challenge. Clinical Informatics has responded to numerous public requests and can assist in your evaluation of and responses to future public requests.
In the course of developing policy and regulation, many agencies find it beneficial to secure the input of subject matter experts. Clinical Informatics can provide public testimony, written opinions, and committee support on topics ranging from the personal privacy risks of genomics to the drive toward data aggregation and analytics to promote population health.
Agencies are often required to seek broad opinion before making policy determinations. Occasionally timelines for policy completion are very short. Clinical Informatics can assist agencies in identifying potential participants to invite from a broad array of backgrounds and perspectives in order to assist agencies in meeting both the time limit and the requirement for consideration of diverse views.