BALANCING PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER OUTCOMES

CLIENT HERO: Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) is one of the largest hospitals in the Military Health System.

CLIENT MISSION: WRAMC uses information technology to support its provision of clinical medical services to active duty military members. The Military Health System provides some IT capabilities and others are developed locally at WRAMC. WRAMC did not have a systematic way of prioritizing IT projects or reducing overlap of functionalities. There was no clear chain of command or communications mechanism related to development of IT projects in support of clinical services. WRAMC leadership believed that resources were not being used efficiently.

THORBEN SOLUTION & TEAM: Thorben facilitated problem solving sessions with leaders from each clinical department and each IT department at WRAMC. Through application of a structured problem solving process, WRAMC decided to establish a Clinical Informatics Management Division which would provide oversight, coordination and approvals for clinical IT projects.

CLIENT MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: After identifying the solution, Thorben helped to establish the Clinical Informatics Management Division within the Department of Information Management at WRAMC including the process for the development of IT projects at WRAMC.

THORBEN IMPACT & VALUE CREATED: The problem solving process executed by Thorben allowed all stakeholders to understand the organizational challenge and provided each of them input and insight into the eventual solution selected. Once established, the WRAMC Clinical Informatics Management Division saved over $1 million per quarter for its first three years of existence and also supported the development of more focused and more useful Clinical IT Capabilities. Thorben helped WRAMC deliver a great Return on Investment and ensured excellent stewardship of client resources.