Establishing the foundation for digital transformation in healthcare

The seismic shift in reporting and recordkeeping requirements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led many healthcare organizations to a realization: They’re not equipped to manage the complexities and changes of what’s being called “digital transformation.”

Today, many facilities are finding themselves unsure of what the digital journey even entails, let alone how much it will cost and how they might benefit — and the results are being felt by workers and patients alike.

Where should an organization begin with digital transformation, both in the back of the house and in the clinical space? What systems and tools are available to facilitate the transformation? And most importantly, what are the benefits?

The benefits of digital transformation

Digital transformation is a game changer in the healthcare world, both in terms of operational efficiency and patient care. It will allow your organization to work seamlessly behind the scenes to stay organized and effective, and it can ultimately result in better outcomes for your patients.

From the back-of-house perspective, digital transformation can help your organization manage its resources in the most effective way. Inventory levels can be easily monitored, and even automated, to help ensure you won’t be slowed down by shortages. Staffing and personnel decisions can also be optimized, resulting in a more prepared and effective workforce.

For your patients, digital transformation can have a major impact on the way they approach their care and the outcomes they receive. Their data can be seamlessly available throughout your organization, meaning that it’s easier and quicker to access critical health information and provide treatment. The billing process will also be streamlined, making it much simpler to even receive care in the first place.

The three foundational systems

Enterpise resource planning (ERP) is the first of three critical systems to help enable digital transformation. An ERP enables your organization to monitor and manage financial resources, such as inventory, billing information and the availability of your workforce.

The second system is an electronic health record (EHR), which the industry has come around to in recent years. The new kinds of recordkeeping and reporting the pandemic required forced a major revolution in the way healthcare providers deal with data.

Currently, the industry is mostly compliant with implementing EHR and is in optimization mode regarding best practices for its use. This is a big leap forward for digital transformation, but without integration with financial systems, there is still work to be done.

Merging clinical EHR and financial ERP creates a connected ecosystem that healthcare providers can leverage to control inventory, manage ordering and solve budgetary issues, resulting in much more streamlined and efficient workflows.

The third system that, when fully integrated into the process, will facilitate digital transformation is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool — the interface between providers and patients.

With these three systems merging into one data ecosystem, the journey toward a more connected future can be achieved.

Integration in action

Ultimately, the digital transformation will tremendously benefit healthcare providers and patients, allowing efficient data access and communication and more insight into solutions.

A fully integrated ERP system, working in conjunction with EHR and CRM, allows your organization to get a more precise handle on how much your expenses are costing you, how your patients navigate their bills, how your providers communicate with their patients and how efficient your inventory management is.

Digital transformation can also impact your data security. With a centralized system managing your information, you can work with more confidence that your critical information is accurate, secure and most importantly, private.

When healthcare organizations have a cohesive system managing all of their data, from financials to patient information, the end result is simplified and automated back-room processes, streamlined billing and improved client satisfaction.

Building the digital foundation

Digital transformation hinges on these three systems working in tandem, which requires a great deal of planning and preparation to execute. With so many moving parts to contend with and critical data at stake, a solid plan is essential for success.

Creating a sustainable digital ecosystem for your organization involves a number of steps, including assessing your current technology situation, setting goals for the implementation and usage of your new systems and coordinating with stakeholders to help ensure everyone is on board with the changes.

Determine your current technological landscape. Which systems are working, and which will need to be updated to facilitate your digital transformation? Consider every aspect of your typical workflow and the way you interact with patients and vendors as you visualize your transformation.

Set tangible goals for the implementation and usage of your new system. Determine timelines for any necessary infrastructure updates and don’t forget to incorporate employee training and education on your new systems as part of your overall plan.

Communication across your organization is critical in the planning stages of your digital transformation. Every stakeholder, employee and outside vendor will likely be impacted by the changes you make, so it is essential to keep everyone connected and working toward the same goal.

Overcoming the obstacles

Even with the worst of the pandemic behind us, hospitals and other healthcare organizations are still feeling the effects — both financially and in their labor force. Finding employees who can embrace new systems and quickly grasp workflow changes is a challenge.

It can take, on average, six months to a year to fully implement a new ERP system, and there’s a significant learning curve to overcome before teams can really make the most of it.

Compounding the difficulty, many organizations have observed that implementing these systems has exposed other flaws and issues within their existing frameworks. Cybersecurity processes and maintenance routines that previously sufficed now need to be reassessed and updated. It’s not a simple plug-and-play operation — integrating new concepts into existing systems, sometimes across physical locations and brands, requires a degree of trial and error that can complicate the process.

Many organizations are eager to modernize but simply lack the staff to handle the implementation and management of these systems. The process requires a great deal of organization and coordination. Plus, there’s the issue of existing systems to contend with. Have you contacted the vendors of the systems you’re deactivating? What kinds of sunset provisions are included in those contracts?

Simply put, change isn’t easy, and it shouldn’t be expected to be quick. But it is essential, and the time to act is now.

The importance of project management

As you begin to work toward our digital transformation, think about who will be responsible for implementing your vision. From interfacing with vendors to managing schedules and problem-solving, there will be a lot of executive decisions to be made. Is there someone in your organization who can devote a small amount of time to coordinate all the action? 

Smaller organizations that may already be stretched to their limits staffing-wise may struggle here, but a good project manager provides a significant amount of cohesiveness to the process and may be the extra help you need to get everything done smoothly and efficiently.

Planning for change

Another aspect of the process that can cause friction is psychological — change can be difficult for people to adapt to. Training is a significant expense, both financially and in terms of time. It’s essential to consider how your workforce will manage the transition.

Simply throwing a whole new workflow into place and expecting everyone to adapt isn’t a viable strategy. Think about your training process in easy-to-manage, bite-sized pieces. This way, your employees will be able to get the most out of the system from the start.

Don’t stop at just implementation, either. Create regular touch points for the first two years of operation after the fact. Your new ERP will have such a major impact on every aspect of your organization — inventory control, asset management, purchasing and more — and it’s critical that people keep learning and thinking about the possibilities this new system presents.

Scaling your system

Many organizations simply don’t have the resources to manage such a large-scale transformation all at once. It is difficult to take on such a big shift overnight.

Start with the basics. Identify a few processes that are core to your operations and work your way out from there. It’s tempting to want all the bells and whistles in place at once, but without a solid foundation, your system may not get you where you need to be over the course of the next few years.

The industry already learned a difficult lesson during the shift to EHR. At the onset, there were hundreds of different EHR systems, each with their own pros and cons. Eventually, the field was consolidated to just a few essential systems, and many organizations went through the expense of implementing EHR twice. 

Think long-term about the systems that will become the foundation for your digital future. This is a major investment, and before you roll anything out, make sure this is an ecosystem you can exist within.

How Wipfli can help

Converting to more sophisticated digital systems will be the foundation for digitization in the healthcare industry. It’s a significant investment that will impact not just your ability to be efficient as an organization but also your ability to handle your finances and communicate with your clients.

Every healthcare organization, big and small, should consider the importance of technology as part of their digital capital plan, and if you need help in selecting and implementing an integrated system that will work for you, Wipfli is here. Contact our team of dedicated healthcare professionals, who can work with you to help bridge the digital divide.