The Great Disconnect: Bringing Healthcare IT and Operational Leaders to the Table

A hospital or health system is one of the more complex business entities — a living, breathing ecosystem with a unified ideal goal to deliver the best patient care. Simmering just beneath the surface of that goal are differing ideas of how to reach it. Add a variety of modern business problems, including cybersecurity attacks, staff burnout and retention, and ever-present financial pressures, and it’s easy to see how parts of the whole may be at odds with each other.  

The goal of symplr’s 2024 Compass Survey Report was to illuminate these pitfalls, completed in collaboration with CHIME. Using input from more than 280 clinical, operational, and IT decision-makers, the Compass Survey revealed an alarming chasm between the priorities of IT professionals and clinical and operational specialists. How can a multifaceted organization thrive when it lacks consensus? Let’s take a look.  

Understanding the Divide 

Healthcare leaders fall within one of three camps: prioritizing security, financial success, or human outcomes, whether patient or staff. The Compass Survey shows this divide. The most significant concerns for IT leaders in 2024 are cybersecurity and patient privacy, with concerns skyrocketing from 5% in 2023 to 40% in 2024.  

After the Change Healthcare cyberattack impacted nearly 100 million patients, according to the HIPAA Journal, IT leaders focused on protecting patient privacy at all costs. As personal health information remains the focus of lucrative ransomware attacks, IT leaders have settled into their roles as protectors at the gates.  

Meanwhile, clinicians continue to cite burnout and staffing challenges as their top priorities for the third year in a row. According to Medscape’s 2024 Physician Burnout and Depression Report, burnout rates have eased slightly, decreasing from 53% in 2023 to 49% in 2024. Nurse staffing is also slowly rebounding. The 2024 NSI National Health Care Retention and RN Staffing Report shows that national turnover rates are 20.7% for all clinicians and 18.4% for RNs.  

These numbers don’t just reflect a concerning trend in patient care–they are a difficult financial burden to overcome. The NSI survey revealed that RN turnover can cost hospitals an average of $56,300. With a 9.9% RN vacancy rate, that turnover can cost hospitals more than $3.9 million annually.  

While their goals may differ, all three of these groups believe there are tech solutions for their problems, but their confidence level in those solutions differs. The Compass Survey reveals that only 37% of operational leaders believe that their chosen software improves patient care, as opposed to 50% of IT leaders. On the other hand, clinicians find that many of the tech solutions don’t translate well to their real-life applications, making care more difficult for their already overworked staff. 

Finding Unity  

The expected outcomes of every tech decision define this divide. According to a survey of healthcare leaders at the symplr 2024 Healthcare Operations Summit, clinicians prioritize ease of use and patient outcomes, while IT and operations look for cost savings, interoperability, and security. So, how do healthcare leaders join the same team?  

1. Invite all perspectives: The first step is permitting everyone to be at the decision-making table. Nearly 72% of clinicians would like more influence on software purchasing decisions. According to the Compass Survey, 51% of operational leaders and 60% of IT leaders are hesitant to listen to clinician viewpoints.  But this hesitancy can stand in the way of forward progress. Since many tech solutions must be used by the clinical staff, listening to and valuing the feedback of clinical leaders can illuminate operational inefficiencies such as redundant software, hard-to-adopt solutions, and technology that increases the workload for staff.
2. Listen to end users: Listening to the perspectives of the ‘boots on the ground’ workforce increases technology utilization rates. Since frontline workers see the most direct impact of these decisions, they are the first to spot inefficiencies, potential pitfalls, and poor patient impacts. They are more likely to utilize the chosen software or solutions when involved in the decision-making process. 
3. Define and align organizational goals: All healthcare workers should share the same goals–delivering excellent patient care. Each leadership group has to approach it from their perspective while acknowledging their impact on others. While clinicians may see their one-on-one patient care as the most tangible, IT leaders know that a data breach can impact patients in just as long-lasting ways. Operational leaders should keep costs low so patients can afford care. Communicating these goals and creating pathways to attain them should be a joint commission, not a race against yourself.