eHealth - Social Business in Health

Implementing an eHealth initiative is the first step in moving your healthcare organization to the forefront of eHealth technology. For instance, how would your organization make use of this revolutionary eHealth initiative innovation? How would you react if patients began asking to connect their eHealth applications to your information system?  eHealth initiatives require an analysis of your entire workflow from operations to systems and technology, from clinical and financial performance to implementation.

eHealth initiative general outcomes expected include benefits to providers and to patients, rapidly expanding technological tools, and even more use of internet based activities.

Working with The Fox Group’s eHealth experts through our three strategic eHealth Thought Lab meetings allows you to get customized knowledge on the processes and strategic changes that must be made in order to maximize the eHealth initiative potential within your organization. Each eHealth Thought Lab meeting will be tailored to your situation, and can jump-start your organization’s eHealth initiatives.  By the end of this series of three strategic meetings, you will have an appreciation of the potential for your organization to embark on a meaningful eHealth initiative. [..]

I.  The Current eHealth Initiative: a short, to the point workshop introducing the main elements of the eHealth initiative, a working definition, the effectiveness and implications of eHealth in the future.  You select the proper internal stakeholder audience of your organization.

• This workshop is a quick tour around basic issues, examples of effective applications, and rationales for undertaking an eHealth initiative.
• Benefits include (1) development of a common frame of reference within your internal stakeholder audience; (2) correction of mis-perceptions and biases; (3) clarify expectations as to the impact of an eHealth initiative; (4)  follow up; and (5) motivation to get things going.

II.  eHealth Discussion and Analysis: a workshop reviewing your current eHealth applications, including electronic health record systems, mobile health, internet-based, social media interaction tools, telemedicine, and similar components.  It will also address your organizational enthusiasm and/or challenges to creating a strategic planning process addressing the future in eHealth technologies as they unfold.  Discussion between your representatives and experts from The Fox Group will run deep into several aspects of the eHealth initiative phenomenon.

• Using tailored examples fitting your organization, moderators of The Fox Group will demonstrate how eHealth technologies pertinent to providers, patients and your organization can result in a successful eHealth initiative for your organization.

• Implications for your organization to be addressed include (1) consequences of the use of eHealth technologies to operations, organization, and Information Technology resources; (2) costs of care and administration;  and (3) satisfaction of patients and other stakeholders.

III. eHealth Strategic Planning: a strategic workshop, where you discuss currently existing concepts, modules, and devices available to you and your patients.  The final step is to identify the strategic  actionable steps to implement your eHealth initiative, bridging the gap between what is available and what needs to be developed.

• Within the workshop, you and your selected stakeholders will reflect on the organization’s actual situation, both from a medical, organizational (structures, processes, staff, IT), and financial and patient perspective.  Wishes, challenges, and criteria for a successful eHealth initiative development path are explored. Initial ideas about a specific eHealth initiative can be discussed and placed in a framework of pros and cons.
• Financial considerations will be addressed as well.  This strategic plan outline will be tailored to capture the ROI, patient and provider benefits and ultimate outcome expectations of your eHealth initiative. Government, payor, and regulatory issues are addressed as well.
  
• Expectations and outcome: The output is a structured roadmap defining the path to development and implementation of your eHealth initiative, fully tailored to your specific situation. [..]

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The title of my talk was “Giving Up Control: Leading in the Digital Era”. One key data point from Gallup that continues to astound me is that worldwide only 13% of people are engaged in their work. It’s higher in the US, standing at 30% but that’s still terrible!

I believe that a big reason for this is that we don’t give enough autonomy to, and respect the growing agency of our employees, especially for the Millennials who crave purpose and meaning in their work. The hierarchies that exist in our organizations were designed for a bygone era where efficiency and scale were paramount. But today, speed, innovation, and creativity are the sources of competitive advantage.

Companies have been responding, deploying collaboration platforms and enterprise social networks to connect people throughout the organization. Shrinking the distance between previously siloed departments, or between executives and the front lines sounds great — unless you’re a middle manager.

The biggest problem leaders face in the digital era is that power and influence are being decoupled from titles and organizational structure. So how can you be an effective leader? Here are the three things that organizations can do:

1. Create a Culture of Sharing. Instead of hoarding information to be powerful, leaders have to become facilitators who accelerate the sharing of information across a networked organization.
2. Encourage the Practice of “Followership”. The size and quality of your network, not your title, determines how much power and influence you have, and thus, how much you can get done. If employees could build their “followership” across the organization and even outside the organization, then even if their titles or jobs changed, they could still be highly effective. This creates tremendous security that allows these managers to make tough decisions that might otherwise jeopardize their livelihood.
3. Ensure Networks are being used to Make Meaningful Decisions. People are smart — they won’t devote time to engaging unless they know it’s going to make a difference. The biggest mistake I’ve seen organizations do when trying to transition into the digital era is to use these new tools to create the equivalent of a digital water cooler — talking rather than getting work done. No wonder they don’t last! Get leaders to pay attention, make key decisions on these networks and people will come.

What each of these has in common is the need to give up control. In the talk, I shared the journey I’m going through as the parent of teenagers, as they push for greater autonomy and trust to make their own decisions. In our work, if we truly want to have an engaged workforce, then we’re going to have to lead differently, and establish a new kind of relationship and trust that’s created and deepened with these digital tools.