Healthcare Struggles
With advancements in the way data is collected, stored, and protected, its been a game of cat and mouse with healthcare organizations constantly searching for technological improvements, while also staying both compliant and ahead of their competition.
In an ideal world, this would be a minimal nuisance, at worst. However, as we’ve found through our experience, far too often organizations lose sight of the most important piece of technology: The people.
It’s easy for a CFO to get excited about saving $1 million in overtime-laden labor costs, but what happens when those left to utilize said technology are left out of the conversation”left with no support?
It’s important to remember that the idea of what constitutes a œbusiness is not dependent on the industry or products”it’s people. Companies who invest not only in efficient technology, but also their employees, are the ones who rarely show up on the news with the question of How could they have let this happen?
In fact, all too often we see companies who market themselves in one particular way only to have it seem like a completely different company behind closed doors. Selling products or services in the short term with fancy buzzwords and over-hyped promises may deliver an initial flow of revenue or shareholder satisfaction, but rarely does it sustain the business in the long run.
Looking Within
You have to be committed to taking the time to not only understand the specific opportunity at hand, but also how it fits into the organization’s long-term strategy. Oftentimes, the internal customers (employees) are the ones most in need of attention.
When we work with leaders in an organization, we ensure that whatever solution is used is easily understood and communicated by those who’ll be directly impacted, such as nurses, admin staff, etc. These are the positions at risk of the highest turnover.
After all, how effective is a compliant, time-saving solution if the users aren’t informed or engaged enough to use it properly? Our consultants are constantly hearing from clients that the need for better technology solutions stems from the need to protect data from neglectful or even malicious intent.
Hackers are sometimes the cause of data breaches or data losses, but more often than not it’s a disengaged or even disgruntled employee at fault.
It’s impossible to police every internet user on the planet, but there are steps you can take to mitigate these types of issues within your organization. For one, training your employees ensures they know how to operate the systems they work with. Hand in hand with this is proper documentation, which can act as supplementary or reference material to training.
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At the end of the day, addressing your organization’s challenges, technology or otherwise, typically starts with addressing human resource concerns. Your employees, your people, are the backbone of your organization. Take care of them, and you’ll be properly supported.