Healthcare shared services bring together common administrative tasks into one central place. This central hub handles functions for many departments or locations within a healthcare network. Standardizing how things are done and pooling resources offers several benefits:
For example, shared services might manage payroll for all hospitals in a system, handle hiring and training through one HR team, unify billing and finance reporting, and manage supplies centrally to keep better track of inventory. Some hospital systems in the U.S. and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) have seen clear improvements by using shared services, such as better business results and more consistent operations.
Even though shared services offer benefits, many healthcare organizations face problems when setting them up. About two-thirds of change projects in healthcare do not succeed. This is often because of poor planning, staff who are not motivated, bad communication, and too many changes happening at once. Some common challenges are:
Resistance shows up in many ways, like people not caring or actively fighting the change. This can lower how much work gets done, reduce morale, cause more sick days, cause delays, and make people quit. All these hurt the success of shared services projects.
People resist change for several reasons:
Healthcare workplaces often have different groups, like clinical workers and administrators, working different shifts and following old traditions. Differences in values or not trusting leadership make it harder to accept change. Also, if communication does not fully involve staff, they may not understand or believe in the change plans.
Setting up shared services means adding new IT systems, changing how work flows, and updating rules for compliance. Managing all this tech while keeping daily work running smoothly can add stress and lead to more resistance if workers are not properly supported.
Healthcare leaders can raise their chances of success by using change management plans that focus on people as well as the processes and technology involved.
It is important to involve everyone from front-line workers to top leaders early on. Letting employees help identify problems, develop solutions, and make decisions helps them feel responsible and lowers resistance. This means reaching staff on all shifts, including nights and weekends, so they can support each other through change.
Research shows that organizations succeed three times more with big changes when workers fully support the effort. Leaders should work with early adopters and innovators who can influence others to accept the change.
Good communication can double the chance of success. Leaders must explain why the change is needed, how daily work will be affected, and what benefits are expected. Communication should allow staff to ask questions and give feedback, building trust and reducing rumors.
Messages should fit the audience. For example, clinicians might care about gaining more time with patients, while IT workers look for improvements in system security.
Fear of failure often comes from not getting enough training or confidence to use new systems. Offering training that fits the work, given right when it is needed, helps workers learn better. Ongoing help through digital tools, peer mentors, and help desks makes sure questions get answered quickly.
Good training builds skills and lowers anxiety, helping staff move smoothly to new shared service tasks without feeling overwhelmed.
Leaders must be present and open through the whole change process. They should meet regularly with teams, share progress updates, and listen carefully to concerns. Research shows organizations without visible leadership are 5.5 times more likely to fail.
Leaders should recognize the emotional side of change and support staff using tools like the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, which helps people adjust step by step.
Breaking change into smaller steps with clear goals lifts staff spirit and shows progress. Celebrating early successes helps employees join in and see the value of shared services.
Leaders should keep checking results like staff and patient satisfaction, rule compliance, and efficiency. They can then adjust plans to keep up momentum and stop falling back into old habits.
By dividing staff based on how much they resist, leaders can make strategies that fit each group’s needs. Data can point out which departments or users have trouble adopting the changes. Then, focused communication and training can help those groups.
Using data smartly saves resources and speeds up acceptance, helping shared services benefits arrive faster.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation play a large role in changing healthcare shared services. They make operations smoother, lower errors, and help staff during difficult transitions.
AI tools can take over repetitive work like handling finances, payroll, billing, supply logistics, and IT support. Automation frees staff from these tasks so they can do clinical or strategic work more.
For example, AI can manage accounts receivable, credit checks, collections, and cash handling faster and more accurately. These systems handle lots of data and documents to improve finances and cut delays.
Centers with shared services benefit from real-time data powered by AI. These reports can point out risks, watch resource use, predict supply needs, and check service quality. Leaders get useful facts to make better decisions, improving efficiency and patient care.
Digital adoption platforms use AI to guide users, offer in-app help, and provide support when needed. This reduces the time needed to learn new systems. Help built into workflows lets staff solve problems quickly, lowering frustration and resistance.
Centralizing services and using cloud-based AI raise concerns about data safety and patient privacy. Strong cybersecurity using encryption, multi-factor login, and constant monitoring is needed to keep info safe.
AI can also help security by detecting strange access or breaches in real time. This helps meet rules like HIPAA for protecting healthcare data.
Medical practice administrators, healthcare owners, and IT managers in the U.S. face special challenges when setting up shared services. This is because healthcare systems are often spread out and diverse.
U.S. healthcare must follow many federal and state rules about patient privacy, billing, labor laws, and financial reports. Setting up shared services needs close teamwork between legal, compliance, and operations to follow these rules without hurting patient service.
Good change management means offering special compliance training and ongoing talks about risks and rules as processes get centralized. AI tools can also watch for regulation problems.
Many health systems have multiple locations with staff used to local routines and making their own decisions. Moving to shared service centers with standard processes can make people worry they might lose control or their jobs.
Ways to reduce resistance include involving reps from all sites early, respecting different cultures, and customizing shared service processes to fit local needs.
Staff often worry they will have more work or lose jobs because of automation and centralization. Leaders should explain how shared services and AI actually aim to lower repetitive manual work, not cut jobs.
Offering retraining and career growth opportunities that fit new ways of working shows the organization cares about staff development.
Connecting old systems with new shared service platforms is hard and can disrupt IT work. IT managers must lead teams to plan step-by-step rollouts, set clear rules, and give training and support.
Visible IT leadership and regular feedback help build trust and lower technical resistance.
Paying attention to these steps changes shared services from a vague administrative plan into a real, lasting improvement for healthcare work and patient care. Managing resistance with clear plans and care helps medical practice administrators, owners, and IT managers guide their organizations through change to become more effective and strong.
Shared services in healthcare are centralized units providing common support functions such as human resources, finance, supply chain management, and IT across multiple facilities or departments to improve efficiency, standardization, and cost savings.
Key components include Human Resources managing recruitment and compliance, Finance handling budgeting and payroll, Information Technology supporting EHRs and cybersecurity, and Supply Chain Management overseeing procurement and logistics.
They reduce costs through eliminating redundancies, enhance efficiency by standardizing processes, improve compliance with centralized oversight, and enable better resource allocation towards core clinical activities.
Challenges include managing organizational change and resistance, ensuring data security due to centralized data, and maintaining service quality and responsiveness across departments.
Success requires early stakeholder engagement to gain buy-in, establishing clear governance structures for accountability, and continuous process improvement to maintain efficiency and service quality.
Technology enables automation of routine tasks, leverages data analytics for informed decision-making, and uses cloud computing to provide scalable, flexible management of shared services.
AI-driven platforms automate financial processes, provide real-time analytics for operational insights, and integrate seamlessly with existing systems to optimize efficiency and accuracy.
The NHS in the UK and several U.S. hospital networks have implemented shared services resulting in cost savings, improved efficiency, and standardized processes across multiple facilities.
AI platforms like Emagia automate accounts receivable, credit risk, collections, and cash application processes, enabling digital finance transformation through intelligent document processing and advanced analytics.
Centralizing data increases the risk of breaches, requiring robust cybersecurity measures to ensure protection of sensitive patient and organizational information.
Simbo is using AI agents to automate all phone related workflows. Connect now to know more.
Schedule AI Agents Demo Now© Since 2019, Simbo AI.
