To Invest or Not to Invest..Is the question With limited time, money and resources at their disposal, deciding whether or not to invest money in information technology can be tough for healthcare organizations. Couple this with the fact that many IT projects have failed to deliver on their promises, has left business leaders skeptical of investments in technology. IT professionals are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of technology to the organizations they support. This presentation provides a value-based, outcomes-driven approach to justify investments in healthIT. Investing in technology shouldn't be a leap of faith. Technology is an enabler. It must be beneficial and functional to the intended user. Healthcare organizations that make technology decisions without focusing on outcomes find themselves regretting their decisions in the long run. Proper research and planning is critical in ensuring that information technology delivers value to patients, providers and healthcare organizations.

1. CREATING VALUE THROUGH
TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE
Sameer Sule
Healthcare Technology Consultant
KINARA | INSIGHTS
creating value through technology

2. IT Projects
Expectations
vs
Reality
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3. IT Under Pressure
To demonstrate VALUE
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4. 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
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5. 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
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6. 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
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7. 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)
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8. Technology is an Enabler
Supports business needs and objectives
must be
Functional and Beneficial
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9. How does Technology create Value?
• For the Patient
• For the Provider
• For the Healthcare Organization
Must Deliver Positive Outcomes
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10. 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
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11. 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
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12. 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
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13. Value of a Technology Investment
V𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 =
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡
Clearly Define Desired Outcomes
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14. 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
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15. 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?
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16. Options
• In-house development
• Custom development from outside vendor
• Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software
• Cloud based solutions
Evaluate Pros & Cons
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17. 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
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18. 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
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19. 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
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20. 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
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21. Make IT Work for You
Create Value through Technology
for your Organization
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22. 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
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