Nobody likes change

It is always the right time for change, and while everyone will say they want change, very few people will want to change. An eHealth project is not a success at go–live, although this is a very positive milestone, it has to also meet all business objectives and human objectives, which need to be defined early on in the project.

3 major things that change management will achieve for your eHealth project

• Transform your project from a technology installation to an eHealth implementation which has the greater likelihood of achieving ROI.
• Can transform your software application into an organizational change agent.
• Change will inevitably happen; it can be good or bad, effective or ineffective. When change is managed it can exceed your expectations.

3 major lessons we have learned about change management in eHealth projects

• Strong leadership and senior management commitment is critical. They need to be genuinely and visibly committed to the initiative – something they really believe in and this needs to continue through the life of the project and beyond.
• eHealth projects are dependent on many users entering a lot of information into systems to achieve the business benefit which may not be visible to them. This can mean a lot of extra work, you need to communicate to the users “what’s in it for them” and it will need to be compelling.
• Deliver tangible and visible benefits early to build trust and confidence of the users, business and stakeholders. The first project must be selected according to its ability to act as a stepping stone for further organisational and cultural changes.

Change Management has a negative image. It is often quoted that change management projects have a 70% failure rate. This can be misleading as it does not address the real issues that without a change management program your eHealth project has an even greater chance of failure.

You will need to be honest with yourself about you and your team’s capabilities. A recent Harvard Business review article stated that Only 8% of Leaders are Good at Both Strategy and Execution, and only 16% were good at either one. Caring about a project is not the only prerequisite to making it happen. Invest in change and get all of the help that you may need.