Healthcare Technology Featured Article

February 03, 2012

Disrupting Stable Production Environment Jeopardizes Patient and Physician Relationships


Healthcare technology integration expert Amelia Wright proclaimed that if executives disturb a stable production environment just to complete integration then they will end up compromising patient physician relationships. Wright was speaking at the Investment and M&A Opportunities in Healthcare Conference.

Wright was recently named as an elite member of the Top 100 Premier CIOs by Computerworld and she stated that it is not easy for an organization to stay focused on basics during a merger and if they disrupt normal operations at that time, they may end up messing with the patient physician relationship. Though the momentum of the integration needs to continue it should not at the risk of a stable healthcare environment.

Wright added that the integration issues can be daunting for small and medium-sized companies upon the close of the transaction. Hopefully, the greatest risks have been correctly quantified through the due diligence effort.

Some of the technology integration issues listed by Wright are infrastructure inadequacies – skills and environment; mission critical business applications – interfacing, migration, and more; single points of failure identification; and customer advocacy – problem/project resolution/accountability.

Wright has over 25 years of experience in the Information Technology profession. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and has provided management consulting services to Fortune 500 organizations including SmithKline Beecham, National Data Corporation, AXA Financials, and healthcare industry majors including United Surgical Partners International.

During an integration process, organizations may employ an external consultant team for reaching solutions and resolving conflicts. It would work only if the consultants are able to reduce ramp-up time, insure strong project communications between business, technical and clinical areas and provide superior risk management skills.

According to Wright, an ideal consultant is the one who can help business and technology leaders accurately prioritize integration projects, deploy proper resources, and measure their progress. Delivering quality education, instilling best practices and mentoring leaders are tasks that the consultant should plan and perform throughout their engagement.

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Nathesh is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Nathesh's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell
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