Interventional Platform

The Interventional Platform project begins with the development of a weekly steering team, project leaders, their perspective of current operations, and their consensus around key objectives, facilitated through client interviews and agreement.

As the steering team develops the basic charter for action teams with the facilitation support of the consulting leads, they define project objectives and team memberships.

Meanwhile the consultants complete a full analysis starting with extensive individual interviews that reach to all levels of the organization, as well as key referring providers. They gather the perspectives of key stakeholders, and both formal and informal leaders and mentors; build understanding and consensus of current and desired states as well as the agreed project structure and engagement guidelines; identify and communicate options; establish key relationships, roles and responsibilities for the project, and begin discussion and development of the skeleton structure of the final service line.

In a parallel path, where small changes are identified and can be made today with immediate impact, the consulting team conducts simple observation studies, confirms the opportunities and communicates their potential at once, right from the start of the project and throughout. They provide analytics, workplans and facilitation support right away as needed, building the entire project on a platform of growing teamwork and implementation successes that start within weeks.

From the direction of the interviews, a deeper study is conducted which examines and measures market share, leakage, patient / case mix and potential; revenue sources and revenue cycle opportunities; workforce and local market workforce experience, flexibility, availability and HR options; appointment, room and crew utilization; financial performance and productivity; scheduling and throughput; current policies and procedures; and space, supply chain and equipment optimization. As information is brought to light, potential future state designs and the pathways required to get there are mapped out for discussion and decision-making.

As weekly performance improvement action teams begin, they review and refine the study. During this initial phase, the consulting team partners with hospital OI, BI and IT as part of a new Information Infrastructure weekly action team. Together they explore and refine existing metrics and tools, and as needed build new ones.

The consulting team then proposes needed best-practices, and the necessary metrics and their data sources to support them, as part of the new and refined service line management system. The management system, as a host of new management practices, creates visibility, transparency, accountability, priority and consensus; helps guide decision-making every step of the journey, and confirms and sustains progress in the years ahead.

The steering team provides additional input and direction, and the consulting team builds the new online weekly management system with support from their hospital colleagues on the Information Infrastructure team.

The new management system contains superior weekly dashboard metrics directly geared to the development of new practices; support for each management position, area, and function in the new service line structure. The system also contains simulation tools so that as soon as performance feedback comes in, change options can be modeled and their results shared to expedite decision-making. In this way the old reactivity is replace with new, pro-active responsiveness. The old conflicts are replaced with a new platform of shared, agreed-upon information, communication, discussion and alignment.

The consulting team also provides deeper analytics and service models for collaborative development, incorporating patient, associate and provider experience, as well as department operational and financial performance.

The management system and the deeper study establishes a finer perspective of baseline, and as a weekly performance feedback tool, supports rapid piloting of small changes. The information serves as the basis for consensus-driven development of short-term and long-term objectives, and transparent reporting to the steering team. The system is effective because of both hard and soft management elements: The technology is based squarely on the teamwork within its development; the validity and quality of the information; and the education, coaching and training by the consulting team in its use. In this way the “System” is not only the hard technology that generates higher quality information, but the soft organizational development facilitated to instill its use.

The construction of the workplan to achieve identified and agreed-upon key milestones in stages over the next four quarters, two years, three years and five years flows naturally, with consulting facilitation.

Empowered and accountable with weekly performance feedback, and education by the consultants and the hospital’s own mentors on best-practices and alternative pathways, the action teams begin brainstorming appropriate alternative structures, procedures and processes, and next steps that will work for their patients, organization and members.

Consultants further build scheduling, crewing, and patient flow simulation tools so that the Action Team can try out different approaches under a variety of conditions and see their various results rapidly and safely. These results provide crucial information to build consensus on actual pilot testing, as part of refining larger scale pilots and growing their stakeholder constituency before implementation.

Piloting change in an evidence-based shared-governance approach emphasizing the experience and top-of-license utilization of all involved then proceeds. With the hospital teams they facilitate the consultants develop analyses, reports, business cases, education and internal marketing materials to support the hospital’s own efforts to move ahead together, with full understanding and accountability.

Initial pilots focus on timeliness of service; eliminating error, rework and delay; work-patient-provider flow, productivity; leakage, referral potential, community outreach and client collaboration; human experience, and crew and case scheduling; with an emphasis on supporting hybrid and virtual work opportunities, clinical outcomes, margin and satisfaction.

Positive performance, satisfaction and financial results do not wait for the completion of the project. Improved outcomes begin within the first month of the project and proceed to grow monthly. The project becomes self-funding by the end of the twelfth week, guaranteed. HS4HS will only propose formal Interventional Platform work where we can generate a 5:1 ROI fully implemented by the completion of the project, and an additional 20:1 ROI in the twelve months following the project. We guarantee these outcomes with our entire fee.

HS4HS support for Interventional Platform projects extends well beyond the completion of the project and billing, with weekly availability to meet, review performance and provide any needed support, system maintenance or revision, and team facilitation for two years. This includes on-boarding new management members in the new practices and management of the system.

Every six months for two years, HS4HS will provide one week of follow-up on-site support at no additional charge.