Background:
Health Data Movers (HDM) partnered with a client’s strategy and growth division to support Operational Excellence initiatives, focusing on the Affordability Program. Finance initiated the program before HDM’s arrival, aiming to manage budgets effectively. HDM collaborated with the in-house team to finalize and optimize the program, engaging divisions with significant budget variances.
“The Affordability Project’s success showcases HDM’s commitment to delivering results and driving Operational Excellence. Through strategic partnerships and innovative solutions, HDM helped the client achieve significant cost savings, and operational improvements.” – TYLER SMITH, CEO
Goal: Achieve $54M Savings
In its first year, the program aimed to achieve several objectives:
- Socialize the process for divisions working with Operational Excellence to drive projects toward cost savings, cost avoidance, or revenue generation
- Visually display data for better reporting and decision-making
- Report to Executives on the program’s progress
The Operational Excellence team collaborated with the division to identify cost savings, implement the action plan, and measure the program’s success based on achieving the action plan objectives.
Project Solution:
Initially, HDM identified the need for a more efficient work tracking and management process. We streamlined operations by implementing Smartsheet for action plans, reducing administrative time from 1-2 days to a few hours per week. Subsequently, we collaborated with our client’s data analytics groups to develop a Tableau dashboard, automating data entry, enhancing accuracy, and providing real-time updates, leading to a 50% reduction in labor. Following a review, the Affordability Program Committee shifted the success metric to a percent of the Budget Variance, holding divisions accountable. This approach included monitoring variances and creating dynamic action plans, culminating in the establishment of a Financial Recovery Command Center to expedite efforts in response to significant variances.
HDM’s Success Story:
The Health Data Movers team demonstrated integrity and grit, adapting to shifting demands and priorities and finishing the work through collaboration and teamwork. Every team member made a significant impact on the goal.
- The program exceeded the client’s goal of reaching over $54M in savings within the first year. Currently, the project is at $57M in savings… and counting.
- Through the implementation of Smartsheet for action plans, HDM reduced administrative time from 1-2 days to a few hours per week.
- The Tableau dashboard created by HDM reduced labor by 50% through automation and improved accuracy, while providing real-time updates.
Lessons Learned:
- Executive and Senior Leader engagement is crucial for Affordability Programs to succeed, leading to significant progress
- Initially, the CFO tasked HDM with tracking financial initiatives to close the budget variance gap, and we later focused on building and managing the Revenue Cycle project portfolio, working with the executive director of Revenue Cycle
- Together with the client, we implemented a Revenue Cycle Optimization Program assessed by a third party, prioritizing initiatives with the most significant financial impact within IT, Operations
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About Health Data Movers (HDM):
Health Data Movers is dedicated to empowering patients and providers by unleashing the potential of healthcare data and technology. Our core services enable healthcare providers, biotechnology firms, and digital health companies to execute implementations, optimize and support systems while managing, moving, and sharing data in an efficient, secure, and compliant manner. Recognized as a leader in the industry, HDM received the Best in KLAS award in 2022 and has been named to the Inc. 5000 list three times (2020, 2021, 2022). Additionally, HDM was honored as one of the “Best Firms to Work For” by Consulting Magazine in 2020.