Optimizing Health Information and Technology to Support a High Reliability Organization

Implementing and maintaining a high reliability organization (HRO) is like putting a puzzle together. You must have all the pieces  (technology, human resources, just culture, leadership, budget);, you must know what the completed picture looks like so the pieces can be put together correctly  (defining performance metrics for success, including structural, process and outcomes);  you must know when pieces are missing or no longer fit (letting go of the “old” – optimizing technology to do the work more effectively and efficient, not just using the technology too), and you must have the time to complete it with a sense of urgency but not expect you can do it in one budget cycle (not stop – start – stop) or you will lose critical pieces.  In an HRO patient safety and system redesign are not separate.  Implementation is system wide, so scalability and looking across units and specialties is required. Scope is from access to care to outcomes of care and impacts the patients and employees. The optimization of heath information and health information technology is the connector that makes the HRO concept a potential reality.

 

Author(s): Patricia MacTaggart                                                                                                                                             

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