People Fear Change – But Being Prepared Can Facilitate Adoption

Tanja Portmann
Vice President of Professional Services Omnicell

As health systems continue to adopt new technologies and digital transformations, it often causes a dramatic shift that can be jolting and confusing for staff. According to a study by the IT research firm, The Standish Group, only 29 percent of healthcare IT projects are considered to be successful.

Change management always comes down to how well you’re able to manage people and technology. Business and organizational pivots do not need to be overwhelming, but you do need to focus on two critical areas: empathize with and help your people to adapt to new systems, focusing beyond technology implementation to support adoption and integration.

“Change management” is a combination of tools, processes, and approaches that can be deployed to navigate technology and people challenges that empower and advance toward the successful adoption of new solutions.

As medication management solutions become more sophisticated, capable, connected, and interoperable, the scope and scale of implementation projects has grown significantly. That’s why many health systems are now partnering with vendors like Omnicell to accelerate time-to-value for technology implementation.

Change management starts by taking a holistic view of the project’s goals and objectives. Every engagement is unique and must be tailored to those unique needs to ensure success. Some health systems may only need program and project management support requiring few changes; while others are looking for assistance with strategic design, supported by transformation specialists to help manage the integration and configuration, in which change management will play a crucial role to success.

Regardless of scope, there are several important factors to consider in any change management opportunity.

• Seek input from key stakeholders to understand opportunities and barriers.

• Build out a comprehensive communication strategy to foster engagement throughout every step of the process.

• Provide the right tools, support, and training at every stage of the engagement.

• Most importantly, establish success metrics and KPIs to continuously measure change efforts. This provides opportunities to adjust strategy as needed throughout the process to deliver the anticipated outcomes.

As technology-driven medication management continues to evolve, successful adoption of these newer, more sophisticated solutions doesn’t need to be complicated. Engaging the right partner that is invested in successful adoption of these technologies will accelerate clinical and business objectives, and ultimately lead to better patient outcomes. Learn more about how Omnicell Professional Services can transform your technology implementation.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author(s). These views are always subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and may not be held in perpetuity.