Policy Management Software Should Make Your Job Easier, Not Harder
It is estimated that up to 70% of technology projects fail to deliver their desired results because of poor requirements gathering, limited user engagement before going live, and inadequate training and support available after the software is implemented.
Often software that appears as a simple plug-and-play, isn’t and leads to unrealistic expectations. With so much on the line every day, implementing any new process, software or workflow can add an incredible amount of stress to staff and result in:
- Poor adoption rate
- Increased frustration throughout the organization
- Wasted investment
- Decrease in compliance
One of the most crucial factors that determine adoption and, in the end, return on the investment, is the quality and depth of the training.
Today’s policy management solutions are complex, with lots of moving parts and limitless possibilities for user and manager questions and challenges. Whether it is simple tasks, like resetting passwords and uploading documents, or something more advanced, such as setting up workflows, there is no shortage of opportunities for user concerns to slip through the cracks and adversely impact their opinions and adoption of the software—wasting your investment and potentially leading to fines and penalties for falling out of compliance. Policy management software requires in-depth support.
Lack of support is due to the software vendors themselves, as support options for standard installs leave a lot to be desired. Free support is often extremely limited in scope and heavily reliant on customer self-service through frequently asked questions (FAQ) and searchable knowledge bases, while ongoing support is usually a premium service—sometimes adding more cost than a customer can or is willing to afford.
Most vendors offer an initial onboarding and training period to get users familiar with the software. But additional or refresher training is usually a premium service and in cases of employee turnover, you can expect to pay a lot more to start the process over with new employees.Â
Another pressing issue is the lengthy response times to even simple inquiries, as many vendors either lack formal service level agreements (SLAs) or write them to be as lax as possible. The result is that customers often wait days—sometimes weeks—to have even basic inquiries addressed.Â
Next week we will discuss the support you should receive from your policy management software vendor.
MCN HEALTHCARE
Regulatory Compliance Solutions for Healthcare Organizations,
Including Policy Management Software, Policy Library Templates,
StayAlert! – Regulatory Alert System, and Learning Management SystemÂ