Internal User Groups – Optimizing Your Systems

There is no doubt that a hospital IT department is busy all the time. In past articles, we’ve spoken about the ridiculous number of projects each IT shop handles in any given year. But there’s a difference in being “Busy with chaos” and “Busy with a focus.” Which one are you?

Here’s an idea that we recommend to any site we help with an HIS implementation. Once live with a new system or upgrade, develop an internal Users Group. Develop the goal / mission of your internal Group, and pinpoint cross departmental issues that COULD be addressed and resolved through tailoring of your system(s). Don’t turn the Group into a forum for negativity – keep it positive and focused. Carefully select representatives from various areas of the hospital that use the major systems. Key Superusers are very handy in this extended role. Certainly include a registration rep, nursing, ED, billing, lab – the usual cast of users. We recommend meeting once every two months.

I’d like to share some great examples from one hospital that did this very successfully. During a session, nursing brought up an issue with registration’s night time processes in relation to their bed management. The Group looked at it and determined that a simple change in printing of night time notices to bed management solved the problem. Interface issues were also a common topic for this hospital. In every instance, the Users Group, which was facilitated and driven by the IT department, was able to quickly determine if the issue was a people issue, which needed to be dealt with by management or training, or a process issue, that could be resolved by tailoring and workflow improvement.

What was most recognizable here, was that the Users Group kept careful records of how many issues were brought forward and of how many got resolved as a result of this forum, and this record of successes was something that all participants could be proud of.  The IT department became known for their ability to pull the users together and get things done. 

It’s all about communication.  Many sites spend 18 months implementing a system, and then forget the importance of routine maintenance and assessments to keep the system functional AND efficient.  It’s all about working together and staying busy with a focus!