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Be Careful About Being in a Hurry . . .
April 21, 2008
This is a short interview with Jeff Dean, head of Professional Services at G3 Technology Partners. Here, Jeff addresses the dangerous habit of ‘being in a hurry’ to implement technology. At the end, he gives a tip on how to get ready for technology solutions.
Saving Lives By Being Wireless
April 18, 2008
As a technology specialist, everyday I see the power that technology can have in helping a business grow and helping people become much more productive—both of which potentially lead to a financial impact.
I was talking with one of our most recent health care clients last week and I posed the more serious question,
“Can proper use of technology help save lives in a hospital?”
He’s a rather profound thinker so it made perfect sense to him to explore the topic. As a note, we recently installed a wireless communication system at his site. The list below came as a result of a total diagnostic that his site went through prior to the selection of a wireless solution. Obviously, every facility is different and recommendations vary on a case by case basis.
Yes, because of faster reaction times and increased staff availability.
In diagnosing his situation (pre-sale), we found that his staff didn’t feel mobile. They felt tied to their unit. Consequently, they believed quality of care suffered because of that. With a wireless system, their mobility increased—they could perform their jobs from anywhere in the hospital. A nurse there told us a story about a common situation that used to take 3-5 hours to resolve. And that with the new communication system, she coordinated the exact same result in less than 30 minutes. Over the course of 400 nurses and 2300 patients, that two hours turns into tens of thousands of hours of productivity advancement.
Yes, because of paging delay elimination between doctors, nurses and staff.
Under the old system, nurses spent less time taking care of patients directly and personally, and more time with admin details. They all felt like patient care was a casualty. With their new system, doctors have all critical information and direct access to nurses and staff. Doctors also spend much less time on hold which allows them to do what they do best—administer care.
Yes, because more and more people are involved in patient care, which can create errors in the handoffs.
The information flow is greatly increased. (More here on patient info flow. Think about a story like I have in the prior paragraphs.) For example, it used to be when someone wanted……this happened. And it caused….
Conclusion
The basis for this argument is that hours spent with the patient instead of running people and information down—or waiting for information-will lead to better patient care and thus better referrals to the hospital. Has it saved a life yet? Well, not that we know of. But the time will come when an hour saved will be the difference between life and death.
Most Common Communication Pains Inside Companies
April 16, 2008
Recently, I read a white paper done by Insignia. It was prepared on behalf of one of our suppliers, Siemens.
In it, they revealed a study they completed in 2007– and it had some interesting information in it.
They talked to over 500 people in a variety of industries to find out what the most common communication problems were inside companies today. I wanted to share the list with you, then in subsequent posts, we will address each one, one-by-one.
Here is the list:
1. Waiting for Information. Attempting to get in touch with/get information from an individual with multiple means of communication in order to make progress on a particular process or task.
2. Unscheduled/Unauthorized Communications. Communications that disrupt the flow of work.
3. Coordination Inefficiency. Inability to fully direct or interact within a team in order to move it towards its goals.
4. Planning to plan. Time spent on planning and arrangements in preparation to actually make progress towards completing work.
5. Barriers to Collaboration. Inaccessibility of the tools needed to collaborate fully with colleagues.
6. Offsite Productivity Loss. Reduced output when working from a location other than one of the company’s offices.
7. Customer Complaints Due to Communications. Handling complaints and other incidents of customer dissatisfaction that stem from the communication policies/technology of the company.
8. Trips with Additional Communication Costs. Added costs of communication while on business trips.
9. Trips to Synch Up. Business trips taken for the purpose of receiving information that will be disseminated to a number of individuals at the same time/place and in the same manner.
10.Working from Home - Extra Costs. Added costs of communication when working from home.
I thought these were a neat way of looking at some of the ways technology can help you run your business better. You might print this off, circulate inside your company and see where your team(s) might be lacking.
The Seven Business Issues That Fund Technology Investment
April 10, 2008
In this episode, Ray Hoffman, G3’s VP of Operations, discusses the business value of a technology investment.
There are seven major areas that technology will impact. Some of these areas might not be what comes to mind, traditionally, when you think of business problems solved by technology solutions.
Discovering Opportunities to Drive Competitive Edge
April 2, 2008
We caught up with Lisa Hill last week. Lisa is our VP Sales and is quite involved in helping clients identify the major issues they’re trying to solve with technology solutions.
Lisa and her team have a unique way of handling customer meetings and the sales process itself. We thought you’d like to hear it in her words. This may help you know what to expect when you ask G3 in to discuss your goals and issues.