Law Students

Part III of this series can be found here. As new posts in the series are added the forward and back links will be updated in order for readers to "walk the posts" in a quasi presentation like format.

The graphic below illustrates an iterative non-linear cycle. There is nothing especially profound regarding how the individual "steps "are labeled (although in this case they are meant to be more representative of a HITECH/HIPAA compliance life cycle) but rather the important point to understand is that it does NOT represent a linear methodology.

Here is some additional (non-linear) wisdom on "prototyping and iterating" from Tom Peters. Some of the money quotes (that Tom borrowed) are as follows:

"Experiment Fearlessly"
"Innovation = Reaction to the Prototype"
"Reward Excellent Failures and Punish Mediocre Successes"
"Effective Prototyping may be the Most Effective Core Competence"
"We Act from Day One While Others Plan How to Plan for Months"

Recently a healthcare professional (a fan of  Tom Peters) stated: "the healthcare industry is not ready for Tom Peters." The point is that it better get ready; not because Tom has all the answers (no one does), but rather because Tom Peters is a thought leader regarding how innovative organizations find the "right" answers.

The thinking that he and others have developed around "agility" are profound lessons that many in the healthcare industry have yet to assimilate. The continued use of linear methodologies will lead to more EHR disasters.

As Part III of this series suggests, most of the complexity surrounding HITECH/HIPAA compliance, and an EHR implementation, lies in "messy" people/process issues. In order to discover just how "wicked" these issues are, an agile methodology is an absolute requirement.

If you would like more information regarding EHR implementations. and related compliance issues sign up for our FREE HITECH/HIPAA Compliance Newsletter.