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Taking A Team Approach
July 1, 2008
The old saying goes, “There is no ‘I’ in team,” and this has never been more accurate than in today’s health care information services departments.
I’ve had the opportunity to serve in an information systems leadership role for several health care organizations. And I’ve come to realize that regardless of the hospital size, type or location, there is no “one size fits all” information technology solution to support the organization’s business objectives. As a result, no one individual can appropriately support the organization’s information systems requirements.
Thus, the synergistic efforts of the information services “team” must be harnessed to properly generate the results mandated by executives, clinicians, regulators and a litany of other related stakeholders.
Like many of you, my younger years were spent participating in team-oriented sports. Whether it was baseball, football or soccer (I grew up before the lacrosse, ice hockey and crew generation), team-oriented sports provided, in the short term, the ability to exercise and learn a skill. In addition, these activities sowed the seeds for longer-term benefits that are very useful in today’s business environment. Such benefits include working collaboratively with others; recognizing the value of communications; understanding your role on the team; learning discipline and a work ethic; and understanding each person’s unique contribution to success.
At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the concept of “team” has been embraced in multiple ways. With three hospitals, 1,500+ beds, 2,000+ physicians, 6,000+ clinicians and more than 14,000 end-users spread throughout the city of Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs, a cohesive team effort is the only mechanism to achieve success. The IS team is leveraging foundational activities from prior years and introducing innovative efforts in many ways. For example, it has:
* Established a project management office that ensures the proper leadership, skills and tools are utilized to manage the more than 200 ongoing information systems related projects;
* Developed new communication tools, including newsletters, Web sites and dashboard reports, to ensure both internal and external stakeholders are at a common level of understanding and awareness;
* Introduced the concept of multiple chief medical information officers within the information services department to establish improved relationships and links with the physician community;
* Developed the concept of “first-hand support,” which combines the collective efforts of desktop support, application analyst and the help desk, to resolve reported end-user issues;
* Created executive governance committees that gain enterprise organizational consensus in making IS-related decisions and eliminate inefficient proprietary decisions; and
* Established a close working relationship with representatives of the University’s School of Medicine that will result in collaborative support of researchers’ information systems infrastructure and data requirements.
These activities, combined with others, have brought a level of camaraderie to not only the UPHS information systems department, but also the departments and stakeholders that we serve.
The result of these efforts has further united the UPHS enterprise to have a more common view and understanding of the information technology initiatives required to support the organization.
Recently, I participated in a CIO advisory panel with representation from multiple industries. UPHS was the only health care organization participating. Many of the participating organizations were far larger and geographically expansive than UPHS. Regardless of this difference in scale, the conference attendees generated an overwhelming consensus that no other industry requires as much I.T. breadth, agility, preciseness and reliability as health care.
This recognition is further evidence of the need for an entire “team” effort required to address the fast-paced information technology demands of the health care environment.
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