Background: Baptist Memorial Health Care
Baptist Memorial Health Care is one of the largest private hospital systems in the United States, comprised of seventeen hospitals, including an academic medical center, and numerous clinics and specialty locations. More than 3,100 physician providers across 34 specialties serve a mid-south population of 1.2 million patients.
Tom Barnett, the health system’s Chief Information and Digital Officer, had a strong vision for his organization’s future: a modern, connected technology landscape that was reliable, redundant, scalable and protected from cyber-attacks. Such a system would protect Baptist Memorial’s patient, provider, and employee communities and ultimately ensure Baptist Memorial’s ability to continue providing world-class health care.
Initially, the project focused on the technical infrastructure and service management to identify opportunities to implement best practices while, in tandem, developing a longer-term vision and strategy to fundamentally change the supporting architecture for applications and data at Baptist Memorial Health.
Challenge
Initially, the project focused on the technical infrastructure and service management to identify opportunities to implement best practices while, in tandem, developing a longer-term vision and strategy to fundamentally change the supporting architecture for applications and data at Baptist Memorial Health.
IT transformation is an overwhelming, complex journey. Barnett reached out to Optimum’s IT systems and technology leader, Brian Symonds, who recommended an initial assessment of Baptist Memorial’s IT system. As part of the assessment, Barnett brought Optimum’s team of subject matter experts, led by Symonds, together to take a systemic approach to analyze the current state and recommend an appropriate future state roadmap. Symonds directed a team of Optimum experts through a deep-dive IT assessment. The work spanned twelve weeks, with the primary goals of validating the existing environment’s performance, identifying systemic risk, and recommending a strategy to fully leverage their IT investment in the future.
- Network services
- Server Technologies
- Enterprise Server and Storage
- Client Services
- Cloud Strategy and Operations
- Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity
- ITSM Service and Asset Management
- Cybersecurity
Solution
While the technical results provided Barnett with clear visibility into his IT services, the unexpected and correlating outcomes of working with Optimum provided him with the groundwork for true organizational transformation. He now had an organization ready to make innovative and lasting changes.
As integrated team members, Optimum provided a holistic perspective to Baptist Memorial’s disparate IT systems. Optimum as guides helped Baptist Memorial establish the following:
- Process Standardization: A formalized steering committee brought needed formalization to naming conventions and a methodical approach to “futurizing” each domain.
- Defined Governance: A connected IT team with defined communication channels and authority made decision-making significantly faster. Baptist Memorial can now act quickly on real-time data with defined governance thresholds.
- Formal Change Management: Strong teamwork, defined communication channels, and engagement from multiple layers of the organization have made implementing change smooth and lasting.
The most important aspect of the pre-assessment work was the enduring relationship built between the client and Optimum. Now Baptist Memorial and Optimum are engaged in a multi-year transformational IT journey.
Transformation involves building the case for change, moving barriers, and following best-practice methodologies. Transformation in healthcare IT has immense power to improve patient experience and safety, increase healthcare interoperability, and streamline operations. When selecting a technology transformation partner, health systems must consider both sides of the equation – healthcare and IT.
Optimum Healthcare IT is one of the only healthcare-dedicated technology, security, and cloud advising firms. We understand the industry’s unique requirements and draw upon the subject matter expertise across our full-service range. Our approach is all-encompassing, so our partners gain solutions that work for today and tomorrow.
