According to a KLAS white paper based on data gathered from 2018 to 2022, the quality of a health IT deployment may be more significant for clinician satisfaction than the technology chosen. The majority of the report’s attention is directed toward solutions that must be implemented on a broad scale, such as acute care EHRs, ERP solutions, patient accounting systems, and PACS solutions. In 2022, 81% of Best in KLAS winners also received the best implementation quality ratings in their market segment. That percentage was 100% for market areas requiring enterprise-scale deployments. Additionally, clients who were interviewed were not likely to express great satisfaction until the implementation received at least a 7 out of 9. Conversely, 85% of clients who are pleased with the outcomes say the implementation was successful. The majority of those surveyed said that their implementation could use some work. After a poor first implementation, improving the customer experience is challenging; 76 percent of firms with poor implementation and low satisfaction still suffer difficulties years after deployment. The authors pointed out that driving successful implementations involves both healthcare organizations and health IT vendors. Vendors have a distinct responsibility for establishing realistic expectations for the amount of time and money required for a thorough implementation, including funds for governance, change management, project management, training, testing, and communications. Vendor sales teams should also adequately describe the functionality of their products and make sure that consumers know what they will get from their solutions. KLAS research demonstrates that when the vendor sets clear expectations up front by accurately marketing the product, 85% of clients have a satisfactory implementation. The following practices were suggested by KLAS as a means of ensuring a successful adoption of health IT:
- Planning for implementation starts with the sales process: It Is necessary to establish clear expectations and reasonable deadlines. When asked what the healthcare organization will need to undertake to support the implementation, vendors must be truthful. The amount of data translation and integrations needed should be taken into account by all stakeholders.
- Take risk-based contracting as an example: Budget problems are typically brought on by postponed projects and the extra effort and resources required to finish them. The report’s authors advised taking into account risk-based contracts and preparing for unforeseen delays.
- Overspend on the appropriate resources: Make sure to thoroughly vetting external resources and, if possible, make sure they have familiarity with the product. Backfill roles to free up internal resources for the implementation, resulting in greater post-go-live support.
- Put governance frameworks to use: From the start, clearly identify governance ownership with explicit indivdual and group roles.
