Mergers and acquisitions are tough on health system IT teams. Workflow standardization and technology integration is a colossal task that becomes more difficult if the leadership team is focused on the digital product above service line alignment.
Cleveland Clinic found this out the hard way.
In a Dec. 31 blog post, Craig Baker, global growth and design director in the Cleveland Clinic's Information Technology Division, said the system worked with a vendor years ago t o develop expected workflows for the main campus service lines. But the workflows didn't evolve with new applications or as roles expanded, and stewardship diminished.
After examining the successes and pain points from previous mergers, the system developed the "pod" concept: a structured process for standardizing the caregiver experience after mergers.
The "pod" included team members from the Information Technology Division service lines, construction and infrastructure, cybersecurity, physician and nursing informatics, clinical engineering integrations and more for a service-line focused approach. Pods were designed to identify and elevate "valuable input."
"With a product-centric approach, there's no accountability for the end-to-end workflows that drive a service line," said Mr. Baker. "The product owners and analysts are focused on their specific application build. This mindset creates tremendous workflow gaps and downstream issues."
But the "pod" concept focused on service line success and pod members could take expertise back to the local level to adjust workflows, roles and efficiencies. They could also share potential risks and prevent issues for IT go-lives. The pod approach requires teams to identify technical and leadership experts to own documentation and change management for workflows.
"Having a service-line focus has shown us that integrating technology is much more than providing digital tools," said Mr. Barker. "It's about collaborative problem-solving, building trust and fostering connections."