Tips to achieve telehealth and mHealth buy-in
BOSTON--Achieving buy-in for telehealth and mHealth programs requires an understanding of the careful balance between the operational elements of time, money and technology, said Peter Kung, director of strategic technologies at UCLA Health System, during a panel session at mHealth + Telehealth World 2014 on July 23.
“It’s about tradeoffs. It’s difficult to make everything work,” he said. “If you move one thing, something else has to give. You need to know your bandwidth.”
The key to achieving buy-in is knowing the end-user and stakeholder to ensure their needs are met, he added. “If you are looking at the end-user, you want to make it simple for them.”
“Know your customers better than they know themselves,” added Sarah Pletcher, MD, MA, medical director at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Center for Telehealth. Learn about what’s going on across health organizations from department to department. “You can sell your program with reference data points that may not be known to other departments.”
Pletcher also suggested speaking with staff in the transfer center. “They can give you valuable information about organizations in the region and their struggles.”
Collaboration is cornerstone to these efforts. “Telemedicine isn’t just a new service, but a way to collaborate. Get to know your community providers," she said.
The establishment of key measures to evaluate a mHealth or telehealth program is essential, said Kristi Henderson, DNP, NP-BC, chief advanced practice officer and director of telehealth at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “It’s critical to build in metrics so you can speak to your success.”
Also, small-scale pilots are important for demonstrating proof of concept to decisionmakers. But don’t get too bogged down in details when you start out, said Henderson.
“Just jump into the pilot,” she said. “Worry about refining it after you test it. Don’t paralyze yourself making it perfect before you step in there.”
As new technologies get tested, Kung said that providers must be aware of the nuances that follow. Initial champions can become outspoken critics and vice versa, he said. “As you go into departments, really be able to understand where stakeholders reside.”
Pletcher said the new technologies must be operationally sound, especially when physicians begin utilizing them and seeing their benefits. “Little things like a new web cam can build enthusiasm and then physicians can become the advocates.”
Kung urged implementers to be cognizant of the branding and marketing of the technologies. “Narratives are powerful,” Kung said. He related a photo he took of sisters at a convent surrounding an iPad. Although none of them had used one before, they quickly adapted to it.
“If geriatric nuns who never used an iPad can do it in 10 minutes, it proves to executives we could get this off the ground,” he said. “Make sure to construct a narrative on why you are doing this, and why you are investing the time, money and technology.”