You know what the tech product it right? So is it a medical device or not? Check out this info to see what it is: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957090/Software_flow_chart_Ed_1-07b-UKCA__002__FINAL.pdf
Does it have a CE mark? So should you use it? You do have to do some due diligence on new products, but the good news is that for fairly well established products, some people have done the work for you. It’s worth looking at Orcha (https://orchahealth.com/) and therappy (https://www.my-therappy.co.uk/) – whilst these don’t provide endorsement for the product, they do give some detailed consideration of the features, security and cost and so help you understand if this is the right thing.
Once you’re certain that it is the right product for your needs, consider holding some initial meetings with the potential users of the new tech you want to introduce or develop. This will help you to build a momentum to introduce the tech product into practice and get people with a vested interest signed up to help make the adoption of the tech much easier. In our experience, staff are hugely motivated by seeing the enthusiasm of their patients for a new process or product. Conversely, if there is no appetite for what you are proposing, it is better to change course early on; even if you think it is the best thing since sliced bread, if all the users don’t share your opinion it is unlikely to gain any traction.
We all know that talking to people early and regularly is vital to build a team and having a team to introduce tech into your practice is a must. Most of us don’t work in a vacuum, we need the people around us to at least buy in to what we want to change, and better still actively support and engage with what we want to do. This requires all the usual things to make change work – a team approach, clear communication, early buy in from all the people it will be used by and lots of enthusiasm. It is always worth considering who your key change champions are – who are the people who can really make this work and who will be the cheerleaders for your work? Get them on board early, make them key parts of your team and getting the tech into routine practice will be much easier. Try and get representation from all the people who will be involved, this includes service leads, IT as well as the people who will be using the tech on a daily basis.
Don’t forget, having at least one ‘fixer’ on your team is vital. They are the person who you call when the tech product isn’t doing what it should and when you are panicky/frustrated/confused. They have to have the patience of a saint (‘is it plugged in, no, well maybe that’s why it won’t turn on?’), have an in depth understanding of whatever the tech product is, be cucumber cool under pressure and importantly be available so that they are there when you need them. They are a hard find and so might not be based in your organisation. They could be someone who has used the tech for a while and knows its foibles or from the company that makes the product. We know that not trusting the tech is a key reason for not using it so it’s really important to develop resources to support users when things aren’t working how they planned.
Once you’ve got everyone in your team in place, meet regularly, even if not much is happening. If someone can’t make a meeting, ask them to send someone in their stead otherwise you’ll risk losing momentum.
By Rachel Stockley and Kathryn Jarvis