Did the EIM team present a convincing business case for establishing a new EIM division at St. Rita’s

Chapter 14 EIM

Enterprise Health Information Management and Data Governance

Author : Merida L johnsChapter 14: EIM in Action

The St. Rita’s enterprise information management (EIM) team put a lot of effort into investigating the concept of EIM, its benefits, and how its application might help solve St. Rita’s data quality problems. But, vision without action is merely a dream. The team needed to analyze their research, recommend new ideas and improvements, and develop an action plan for achievement. They scheduled a two-day retreat for this purpose.This chapter functions as a summative activity integrating the knowledge and perspectives in the previous chapters, wherein the St. Rita’s EIM team members bring to bear their knowledge, impressions, and opinions addressing the charge given to them by St. Rita’s CIO, Joan Morton:

“My instinct is that we need an office for EIM whose goals are to reduce data redundance and improve data quality, security, and ease of access. What I want is top-notch data stewardship. But this idea needs verification. I’m designating you as the EIM team to investigate the feasibility of this idea and, if realistic, identify how we might get such an effort off the ground. Your charge is to study the problems, recommend new ideas and improvements, and develop an action plan to achieve these.”

The activity in this chapter is a simulation of a retreat like the one the EIM team might plan. The team addresses information and data gathered from other chapters at the retreat, laying the foundation for a comprehensive proposal of the feasibility of implementing an EIM division at St. Rita’s. A draft proposal developed by the EIM team is in the student manual that accompanies this text.

The topics and activities in this chapter help you to:

 Apply key steps for planning and conducting successful retreats

 Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the case for an EIM office at St. Rita’s Hospital

 Develop a business case for EIM

 Create a proposal for the adoption of an enterprise-wide program

 The St. Rita’s Healthcare System Case Study

The day after the EIM team wrapped up the terminologies and classification function overview, Val, Linda, and Bob met to begin planning the EIM team retreat. Val asked the retreat facilitator, Sandy, to join them at this meeting. While Sandy had no expertise in EIM or data governance (DG), it was important she understand the meeting context, its intended outcomes, and be part of planning the retreat agenda. As facilitator, Sandy was responsible for managing the meeting structure, not the content. Her role was to help the team clarify its desired outcomes and achievements by using a variety of group process techniques to keep the team focused.“One of the first items we have to develop is the agenda,” said Val. “Are we in agreement about the outcomes of the retreat?” she asked Linda and Bob.

“I looked over what the team put together at yesterday’s meeting and I don’t see any areas that we’ve missed,” replied Linda. Bob was in agreement with this assessment. Val also felt the team laid out the key outcomes which were consistent with Joan’s charge to the EIM team.

“OK, now that we are comfortable with what we want to achieve, how do you suggest we structure the agenda?” Val asked Sandy.

Retreat Planning

The usual purpose of a retreat is to allow a team or group the opportunity to step away from day-to-day operational tasks and spend an extended period of time in thought, discussion, and assessment about a specific issue. The St. Rita’s EIM team conducted a planning retreat. Organizations use planning retreats for many purposes including generating ideas or improvements, solving a specific problem, developing goals or objectives, developing action plans, or setting the strategic direction of an organization.

Good planning is the foundation for success at any retreat. The purpose and desired outcomes of the retreat need to be identified beforehand. Frequently, these are reconfirmed as one of the retreat’s first agenda items. Another first agenda item is to establish criteria the group can use to measure the retreat’s success. Other measures to ensure a successful retreat are to cultivate a list of participants, include a facilitator, create a room setup, and prepare the participants ahead of time.

Retreat Participants

Determining retreat attendees is an important part of the planning process. Having the right mix of people at the table is critical. For example, if the retreat outcome is to develop a strategic objective for the organization, then executive management and the board of directors are likely participants. If the purpose is to solve an operational problem, then managers and supervisors are likely candidates as participants. Sometimes, individuals with specific expertise who are outside of an organization are asked to participate in a retreat. Because they are not tied into political or other organizational issues, such individuals provide an unbiased perspective. The St. Rita’s EIM team is a defined group with a specific charge; the team members are the most likely retreat participants. EIM was Joan’s priority, but she also wanted new ideas and improvements. Val, Bob, and Linda thought it would be helpful to invite some experts from outside of St. Rita’s as participants. They brainstormed a list of DG and EIM experts and selected three to invite as additional retreat participants:

 a respected dean of a business school with a strong background in business intelligence and experience implementing large scale data warehouse solutions;

 an individual with a library science background who headed up an EIM effort at an academic institution; and

 a director of data governance at a large healthcare system.

Retreat Facilitator

Adding a retreat facilitator to the planning process for the retreat contributes to the retreat’s success. A neutral facilitator brings objectivity to the retreat. The facilitator may or may not have expertise in the subject matter at hand and should have no stake in the agenda issues. The facilitator should be an expert in group dynamics and processes, help groups make decisions, and develop the retreat agenda and other logistics related to the retreat. Either the facilitator or a scribe records the retreat activities, discussions, and outcomes.

Retreat Setup

Retreats are usually held off-site in an environment that is free from the distractions of daily work. This is conducive to creative thinking, focusing on the retreat topic or objectives, and devoting sufficient structured and unstructured time to achieving retreat outcomes. The retreat site should be free from extraneous noise and have appropriate resources such as good lighting, white boards, flip charts, audio-visual equipment, break-out rooms, comfortable seats, and sufficient table space. Provide food and overnight accommodations as needed, especially if the retreat is not held in a local space.

The retreat planning team should carefully think through the retreat room setup. There may be a variety of room setups, depending on the agenda. A u-shaped table formation may be used to encourage discussion among a small number of participants. In larger groups, a classroom-style setup with breakout rooms for intensive small group work may be appropriate. Or, round tables for small group interaction may be the best choice.

Retreat Preparation

Preparing participants for the retreat is important in setting the retreat context. Ahead of time, provide participants with the agenda and affiliated resources, such as a briefing book. A briefing book contains relevant data and information for the retreat (for example, statistics and previously compiled reports). The St. Rita’s EIM team briefing book contains items such as:

 The completed table for DG deliverables by EIM functional area (table 14.1)

 EIM domains, data problems, and selected actions for St. Rita’s (table 14.2)

 General articles on steps for implementing EIM