What’s the problem? How transparency affects problem solving at health organizations.

Implementation of Pareo® begins with a simple question: Why do you do what you do, the way you do it? This question is harder to answer than it appears. Why is that?

At the beginning of each and every Pareo® implementation, we conduct a tour of users. A feature of this tour is asking a single, probing question: “Why do you do what you do the way you do it?” And this isn’t a test; we truly want to know the answer. But what we’ve noticed is, the question is deceptively simple. Think about it. Can you easily explain what you do and, moreso, the reason you do it?

Here’s why we ask: we want to get to the bottom of the problem so that we can surface the solution. We know that to be truly effective, our customizations of Pareo® for a client need to hit on top of problems. We ask the initial question to get to the root of the challenges a health plan or payer organization is dealing with, at the user level. This discovery process allows us to build a solution that is transformational for our clients.

Getting to the Root of the Problem is an Art

“When developing new products, processes, or even businesses, most companies aren’t sufficiently rigorous in defining the problems they’re attempting to solve and articulating why those issues are important,” writes Dwayne Spradlin, president and CEO of InnoCentive. He adds that this lack of rigor means that many organizations miss opportunities, an unfortunate oversight when innovation is desired.

Asking simple questions can do much to further technology implementation. Toyota Motor Company developed the famous “5 Whys” technique. They believed that “by repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear.” The technique has withstood the test of time as an effective way to diagnose problems and more importantly, find the solution.

Another problem-solving framework is known as “Polya’s 4 Steps”. In this method, users approach problem-solving through 1) understanding 2) devising a plan 3) carrying out the plan and 4) verifying the plan worked. No matter the methodology, the point is to be intentional with the assessment. “Research shows that the more systematic problem solver has a better return with accurate and successful solutions,” writes Entrepreneur.

Why Your Organization Can’t See the “Big Picture”

Lack of access to broader, contextualized data may limit your ability to see “big picture” challenges you need to solve, which can strangle the potential of you and your staff members. “Capturing data and sharing it are two different things,” writes Forbes. Transparency is often thwarted by people, not by technical inability. While data is a strategic asset, often times it is underutilized because of fears such as mis-use or threats to position. A larger fear of change can lead to a lack of transparency within an organization.

Building a culture of data transparency where everyone can exercise their problem solving skills provides greater benefit to the organization. At a time when innovation is a must, health organizations must embrace transparency to further progress or risk “being disrupted,” says Neil Patel, president of Healthbox. Allowing your organization to see the big picture makes way for exciting progress at a time when the time is ripe for innovation, adds Patel.

Working Together to Achieve Your Goals

Your health plan likely has some big, even audacious goals. Lower the cost of healthcare, boost member and provider satisfaction, dramatically improve the rate of recoveries — we’ve heard all these goals cited by our customers. In order to make big strides at your organization, you’ll need to be able to engage every member of your staff. When you connect “problems” to “purpose” for your employees, they aren’t only more engaged — they’re more productive.

That’s where Pareo® comes in. We learn the reason a staff member will be using our technology solution, connected with larger organization goals, and then ensure that the functionality meets the purpose. That’s our “why” at ClarisHealth: every single person is laser-focused on removing the limits of what you can do in payment integrity. With total visibility into the system, your staff can easily transform problems into purpose and remain on track with objectives.