Change Management at the Forefront of Digital Transformations? Real customers and medical patients could be on the receiving end!

 

I thought I’d change up my usual approach for this month’s blog entry.  Usually, I focus on my learnings as a project manager.  This time, I’d like to convey the real-world impact of a project implementation which appeared to me as lacking in both change and project management. 

Earlier this week, I had a routine follow-up appointment with my doctor to understand the latest status of my health issue.  Upon arrival, the receptionist greeted me with an apology saying it was Day One, hour one of their digital transformation to an updated electronic medical record system.  She asked me for my patience and offered several more apologies up-front.  I had no urgent appointments that morning, and as a PM, I decided to observe this system change in action, but from the perspective of the other patients who might have been unfamiliar with the staff and doctors.

As with many of the other patients that day, my appointment consisted of registration, update with a nurse, some short tests, and a consultation with my doctor to discuss findings and next steps.  I knew it would be a rocky road when I was asked to fill out a handwritten check-in form prior to the registration step.  Not I good start, I thought!

Proceeding through the process, I noticed several strategically placed system integrators from a consulting firm to field user questions and make sure the implantation proceeded smoothly.  They each had at least one person asking them questions every time I checked.  At every step of my appointment, I also observed users who seemed unprepared and vexed by the new user interface and how to integrate their processes with the new system.   There appeared to be a few super users to answer some of the technician’s questions, but in many ways, they too seemed at a loss to help with basic functions. 

OK, I thought, I’ve seen rough Day Ones before.  But experiencing this rollout from the perspective of a patient and hearing the real concerns of other patients, some with urgent health issues, really gave me pause.  I could tell the other patients were becoming uneasy with the long wait times between steps of their visit and with the lack of confidence being exhibited by the staff.  This was punctuated by a doctor coming into the waiting room and having an animated discussion with one of the system integrators concerning some critical functionality that was not performing as expected.  It made me question the level of change management which had been built into this project.  The doctors must have also feared the potential loss of trust by their patients due to the system issues.  Everyone’s frustration showed. 

As my one-hour appointment stretched into hour 3, I finally met with my doctor.  At that point, I was getting irritated as well.  I kept my composure but couldn’t resist commenting that there seemed to be a lack of familiarity with the new digital medical record system.  My doctor indicated that the staff had been given a grand total of one-day of hands-on training prior to rollout.   I was astonished at the lack of change preparation by the project team and ultimately by the project manager.  At a certain point, that PM needed to realize they’d crossed the line between system solution and patient health.  As I left the building, I felt sorry for the staff, doctors and especially the other patients. 

This was a major change for everyone involved, and I certainly hope the PM does a Lessons Learned session on that project and follows through to apply their learnings.  Maybe we should all pause and put change management at the forefront of our transformation approach as if a patient’s health is at stake.  That focus certainly would get my attention.  How about yours?