Business Problem 1:  “My business case for an analytics system is having difficulty in getting funding approval by our executive committee.”

Business Problem 2:  “We are concerned because we are not seeing enough value being generated from our analytics system.  We know we need it but are having a hard time justifying it.”

The Connection

These two business problems would appear to be unrelated or at least not directly related to one another.  However, in working with healthcare organizations, Grow Forward’s experience is that that there is, in fact, a direct relationship.  More importantly, solving Business Problem 1 forces an organization to consider Business Problem 2.  Likewise, solving Business Problem 2 forces an organization to consider Business Problem 1.

Looking Either Problem Square in the Eye

When working with organizations and digging into either of these two problems, most often there is a single underlying problem:  The funding/deployment of the analytics system is/was treated as a technology project.  Shared learning and best practices, however, suggest that the underlying philosophy should instead be treated as a business project that has a technology component.

This may appear to be just playing with words, but it is not.  It takes hard work on the part of an organization to spell out, up front, how business processes are expected to change – when it can be difficult to know this in advance.  It also takes hard work to make sure that the expected business outcome is maintained as the highest priority during the course of what can be a long implementation/deployment project.  It is easy to get caught up in the technology.

Recommendations

If you are dealing with Problem 1, keep Problem 2 in mind as you solve it so that you can work to avoid it!  If you are having Problem 2, you may need to dedicate efforts to correct what was not included in the business case and deployment project, despite the fact that it was given funding approval.

Recommendations for Business Problem 1:  When a business case focuses on how business practices will change when team members have access to analytic data (specifically noting how the data will be applied to make the change), then it is easier for approval committees to see why the technology is needed.  The business case does not leave the looming question of “So what are you going to do with it?”  And really, our organizational leaders should be asking this “so what” question of us before spending healthcare dollars!

It can be difficult to come up with this information, but taking time to define “a business project with a technology component” and answer “here is how team members are going to apply analytics to change business” makes funding approval easier.  It also helps to avoid Business Problem 2!

Recommendations Business Problem 2:  When an organization does not see value coming out of an analytics system it may very well be related to the system itself.  However, before being confident that it is completely system related, it pays to take a look at the history of the system within your organization –specifically the business case and what was included in the deployment project.

If a review of the system’s history suggests that the analytic system was approved as a technology project, then the next step is to review the deployment activities.  If the deployment project included end user training as a one-time, capstone activity…get suspicious!  If this is the case, it is likely that the deployment project only trained system functionality and did not go further to train team members on how it should be applied to their work.

In order for value to be consistently driven from analytic systems over time, team members must know how to make use of the data as it relates to the work they perform or are expected to perform.  It should not be left up to team members to figure out and define on their own.  It is very common for organizations to fall short and miss this critical step, despite how obvious it may seem to do this work.  Business Problem 2 ties back to Business Problem 1:  In your business case, be sure to include deployment activities that go the final step and do not stop short of the goal.

If Grow Forward can assist your organization with either of these challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.