Staff augmentation can help healthcare organizations move InterSystems implementations forward by adding specialized expertise when and where it’s needed. Experienced consultants give internal teams extra technical capacity during demanding project phases while keeping strategy, decisions, and long-term system ownership in-house.
Even strong healthcare IT teams can find themselves stretched during a major implementation. HealthShare, Health Connect, and InterSystems IRIS for Health projects may call for specialized integration, interoperability, development, testing, migration, and architecture skills. At the same time, internal teams still have existing systems and day-to-day priorities to support.
Staff augmentation can fill those gaps without asking an already busy team to absorb even more work.
Overview
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Where resource and expertise gaps can slow a systems implementation
- How staff augmentation can add specialized expertise during key project phases
- Which InterSystems skills healthcare organizations may need to supplement
- How consultants can work alongside internal teams while keeping ownership in-house
- How knowledge transfer can leave internal teams stronger after the engagement
Resource Gaps Can Slow Implementations
Healthcare technology projects bring together technical work, clinical and operational workflows, data exchange, and people across the organization.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s guidance on implementing health IT describes health IT implementation as a multi-stage process that spans system configuration, clinical processes, workflows, communication, integration, technology, people, and organizational processes. ONC also recommends addressing potential integration issues early to reduce risks later.
That advice is especially relevant for InterSystems projects that connect applications, exchange clinical data, migrate information, or modernize an existing integration environment.
Project Needs Change from One Phase to the Next
A team that has the right expertise for planning may need different skills during development, testing, deployment, and post-go-live support.
Depending on the project, teams may need additional experience in:
- Interoperability architecture
- HL7 and FHIR development
- Interface development and integration
- Data conversion and migration
- Application configuration
- Testing and quality assurance
- Deployment and production support
The gap may be expertise, capacity, or both. Several workstreams may need the same internal expert at once, for example. A project may also reach a stage that calls for a specialist the team does not need on a full-time basis.
How Staff Augmentation Can Accelerate Projects
Staff augmentation gives healthcare IT leaders the flexibility to bring in experienced consultants when project demand is highest.
A Health Connect implementation may need more integration specialists as interfaces move through development and testing. A HealthShare project may benefit from added interoperability, architecture, or data-exchange expertise. An InterSystems IRIS for Health initiative may need developers or architects with deep experience in the InterSystems technology stack.
Add Expertise Where the Team Needs It Most
Experienced InterSystems consultants can work alongside the existing team on specific technical areas or project workstreams. Internal leaders continue to make the decisions while consultants provide the extra expertise and capacity to keep work moving.
That approach can also protect the time of key internal employees. Instead of asking the same people to manage daily operations and carry a major implementation, leaders can add consulting support in areas where workloads are heaviest.
“The most practical rule for bringing in consultants is to fill in critical gaps in skills, knowledge, and experience. These can make the difference between success, on the one hand, and stalling out or failure on the other. These gaps aren’t always technical either; they can also arise from the need for industry and organizational experience. The flip side is that consultants contribute best when they fit the purposes and culture of their teams. This leads to a natural rapport and smooth collaboration.”
– Dallas Kennedy, Technical Content Specialist, Henry Elliott & Co./InterSystems
Match InterSystems Expertise to the Work Ahead
Adding people alone won’t solve an implementation problem. The consultant’s experience needs to match the work the team needs help completing.
Find the Gaps Before They Become Delays
Healthcare IT leaders can look at each phase of the project and ask a few practical questions: Where is the team stretched? Which work depends on one or two internal experts? Where does the project need deeper InterSystems experience?
The answers can help determine where InterSystems implementation and consulting expertise could have the greatest impact.
Timing matters, too. An architect may be most valuable early in the project, while developers, testers, or integration specialists may be needed more heavily at other stages. Staff augmentation lets teams adjust that mix as the project progresses.
Look for Relevant Experience
Consultants who already know the InterSystems technology at the center of the project can get up to speed faster.
For HealthShare, Health Connect, and InterSystems IRIS for Health projects, technical knowledge is only part of the equation. Experience with healthcare interoperability, clinical data exchange, HL7, FHIR, and related integration challenges can help consultants contribute in ways that fit the larger healthcare IT environment.
Use the Implementation to Strengthen Your Internal Team
Outside expertise can help complete the immediate project while also building skills inside the organization.
Build Knowledge Transfer into the Work
Knowledge transfer works best when it happens throughout the engagement rather than at the end.
Documentation, technical walkthroughs, mentoring, collaborative development, and day-to-day problem-solving give internal team members opportunities to learn alongside consultants. Over time, employees can build a deeper understanding of the architecture, integrations, configurations, and decisions behind their InterSystems environment.
Prepare the Team for What Comes Next
Go-live rarely marks the end of the work. Healthcare organizations may add integrations, adopt new interoperability standards, complete upgrades, improve performance, or respond to new business and clinical needs.
Building internal expertise during implementation gives the team a stronger base for that future work. Organizations can then bring in InterSystems consulting resources when they need added capacity or specialized skills.
Accelerate Your Systems Implementation with the Right Expertise
InterSystems projects can reach points where even experienced internal teams need more capacity or a specialized skill set. Staff augmentation gives healthcare organizations a flexible way to add that expertise while keeping project leadership and long-term ownership in-house.
Henry Elliott & Company provides InterSystems consulting and project resources for healthcare organizations working with HealthShare, Health Connect, InterSystems IRIS for Health, and related interoperability initiatives. As an Elite member of the InterSystems Partner Program, Henry Elliott can add experienced consultants for a specific project phase or provide support over a longer engagement. Throughout the work, knowledge transfer helps strengthen the internal team for what comes next.
Request a consultation with Henry Elliott & Company to discuss the InterSystems expertise your project needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Staff Augmentation
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