Supercharging digital transformation in healthcare with confidence to commit

Staying true to the vision and moments that matter while steering significant change

Digital health brings potential for better health. To this end, healthcare organisations should be somewhere along a transformation journey of “becoming digital”, weaving digital into every aspect of the organisation.

Yet despite holding great promise, many digital transformations fail or fall short of expectations. In part, due to a misalignment between the desired future, execution and outcomes, and not seeing that the real challenge lies in changing the organisation.

In any digital transformation, the hard work lies in the transformation, not the digital. Boards and executives need confidence to commit that comes from not repeating the mistakes of the past.

So much rests on driving pivotal change in the face of short-term pressures and staying true to the vision. Organisational transformation can be long, difficult and littered with diversions. Boards and executives must have confidence that the transformation process is worth the pain of disruption. They need to be sure that it will deliver the vision, that the goals are sufficiently ambitious, and investments will give rise to the right returns. This is the case whether the transformational goals are introducing digitally enhanced care models, rolling out electronic record systems, replacing outdated information infrastructure, or underpinning a new capital development.

Digital transformations bring heavy demands.

Failing to learn from the experiences of others can give rise to a mismatch between expected outcomes and the limitations of what technology can deliver. Many approach change from a linear implementation perspective rather than a transformative mindset. Vendors may bring single-point solutions that resolve just one piece of the technology puzzle rather than considering the entire ecosystem of the organisation.

Boards and executives need to feel confident that the significant investment in technology is driven by strategy and purpose, not the other way around.

To bring it all together and supercharge the effectiveness of executing digital transformation, leaders need a roadmap and framework that guides confident execution.

Keeping transformation intent alive through a guiding digital health framework

Steering a transformative technology program in a complex environment calls for something other than the straight road of traditional project management. The EY digital health transformation framework is an evidence-based decision framework that healthcare organisations can employ for major transformation projects.

EY Digital Health Transformation Framework

Drawn from the literature and informed by implementation, the framework is based on leading practices in digital health transformation and lessons learned from the experiences of others. It speaks to the heart of common challenges experienced in digital transformation and pulls together the technical, human and organisational dimensions of disruptive change.

The framework prompts decision-makers to think clearly about their vision and the how, what, and why of change. Non-linear, it provides guardrails for the design and execution of substantial change programs and builds confidence in and commitment to the significant investment that lies ahead. Developed by EY teams, it has been extensively used in Australia and refined over time with real-world experiences.

The framework is built around four domains. These bring together the clinical stewardship and organisational goals for your digital future, enable new and hybrid workflows, and set up the implementation and transition to your digital ecosystem. The end goal is incorporating technology-driven new ways of organising and delivering care into business as usual.

The framework sets an organisation up to consider all components of digital transformation to reduce blind spots in decision-making.

Using the framework brings structure and rigour to an organisation’s strategy and helps answer the questions of:

• Why are we doing this?
• What gives confidence to commit to a digital transformation program?
• What is the benefit sought and value to be gained from the transformation?

Putting humans at the centre of every decision made today, builds tomorrow

New research on organisational transformation by the University of Oxford Saïd Business School and EY teams find that managing human factors and the emotional journey of change are important to the success or failure of a transformation.

Today’s health model is built upon complex, vertically integrated and siloed systems. In the future, it will be integrated, connecting the many threads of health, social and community services that keep people well and at home. In terms of organisational strategy, this foreshadows making big bets on new care models and the technologies that underpin these models. Potentially, these may significantly alter the routines and activities of the entire organisation. Consider for example, the ecosystem that needs to be created to support the patient journey across different services, systems, and geographies, meeting their needs with real-time clinical decision-making.

The stakes are high, and leaders need to harness both the rational and emotional power of their people to achieve transformation success. Effective organisational change can be driven by paying attention to the human factors that are so often identified as one of the root causes of failure.

Three key outlooks that contribute to successful digital transformation

Value lies in the sweet spot where human and clinical need meets technological capabilities.

Fully realising digital transformation requires leaders to remain true to the transformative vision, appreciate that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts and pay attention to the emotional journey of change.