“The diffusion of innovation is a social process, based more
on psychology and sociology than technology”
-
Everett Rogers
“Self-explanatory
but very surprising, all in one instance” That is exactly what I thought when I
came across this idea through my reading session with the various references
for the assignment on proposing a diffusion plan for the Community Health
Information Tracking System created by the National TeleHealth Center. You
can’t just bring up a new prop into society and assume that everything will go
from good to better because of the new stuff. Innovation has just as much of a
concern towards people as any kind of activity in technology. It’s definitely
not even about the technology or the innovation anymore, at some point. It’s
always about the people – their knowledge and reception towards the innovation,
their likeliness to use it, and their likeliness that they’d promote it to
others, thereby spreading the innovation around.
Before
that one, though, was another more concerning thought on my mind: where would I
get a format for this diffusion plan? After nearly half a weekend of reading up
on some references on the subject, including watching that nifty Scott Berkun
lecture, I set out to find a format on the net just last Saturday night, June
29th.
I
came across a certain scenario with a university and their online course
management system of some kind. It seems that the plan was to usher in the use
of a newer system in place of the current older one. Multiple factors and
considerations were presented in the plan, along with the stakeholders involved
plus the potential sources for resistance against the change. Needs were
brought up for the success of the plan as well as who are very significant and
instrumental in the spread of the innovation. What follows is an actual
numbered plan of activities to be undertaken, which will presumably cause the
foreseen successful diffusion of the innovation within the university.
A
friend of mine whom I’ve consulted with just for a bit of advice also noted
certain elements he personally believes to be essential for innovation to
actually work and spread out. Advertising, a form of information dissemination,
was one that he pointed out exactly for its ability to reach out to just about
any kind of audience, be it general or specific, especially through the classic
and tried-and-tested method of “word of mouth”. Incentives were another thing
my friend mentioned that would help with the diffusion, giving users a more
tangible sense of benefit if they go along with the update and adapt the new
technology.
With
regards to the matter with NTHC and CHITS, though, my proposed diffusion plan
would have looked something like this:
Hastening
the process of diffusing the Community Health Information Tracking System is
not an easy task, to say the least. To date, this would probably be the first
full-on automated system the country would have in managing health information
at the local level, specifically in the local government health centers. And
this would be coming from an older system of manually documented patient
records obviously prone to numerous errors and inaccuracies. Considering that
the there is a wide gap of a difference on how the current system works and how
the new system will, making the big step to change into CHITS-EMR would be
challenging.
Many
potential resistances can be seen, most especially from the users themselves.
The following are the perceived reservations and sources of understandable
resistance from them:
- · Users of the current system may not be adept with basic computer competencies, thereby affecting their capacity to use the new system effectively
- · Users may believe that the adaptation of the new system will require a steep learning curve, affecting their receptiveness to the new system to adapt
- · Users will also take into consideration the cost of updating the current system of information management
Stakeholders
of the system will include the following people whose involvement is crucial to
the success of the implementation:
- · Local Government – they will play an important role in promoting the new system in their area
- · National TeleHealth Center – they will be responsible for the actual implementing of the system in the local government units and their health centers
Needs
must also be addressed for the diffusion plan to work, which will pertain more
to the implementation of the new technology to the users:
- · The Community Health Information Tracking System must be taught to the barangay health center workers.
- · Said barangay health center workers should have good access to information about the system for reference, such as websites and hotlines.
- · The barangay health centers must have the necessary hardware and software requirements needed for the system to function properly.
The
critical players in this innovation are the very users of the new system,
barangay health center workers who will need to adapt to this new method of
managing health information for the community. They must be convinced that, by
acquiring this new technology, they would be able to do more in providing
health services to the community while, at the same time, be able to exert
lesser effort in the long run. The must also be given special incentives for
pursuing the much needed training to use the system. Their experience with the
system, in turn, can be used to tap them for producing more qualified users of
the system in their community.
In
order to produce the desired innovation, the following steps should be
implemented:
- · National TeleHealth Center will invite Local Government officials to a presentation wherein the Community Health Information Tracking System will be given a full demonstration of all its capacities. The presentation will also describe incentives for the users who will agree to train for the usage of the system, which can include:
- o Special recognition to barangay health center workers who have successfully completed the training for the system
- o Similar recognition to top performing barangay health centers using the new system
- · Local government officials will receive brochures describing the advantages of using the Community Health Information Tracking System in their community and the proposed incentive plan. They will also receive emails regarding the system and similar information from the brochures.
- · Training sessions will be set up on a per town/community basis once the appropriate local government officials contact National TeleHealth Center to make arrangements for training their barangay health center workers.
- · Early participants in training will conduct workshops for other barangay health center workers in their community, for which they will be paid, educating other workers.
- · Provide continued support by recommending system website and hotline to users and participants.
- · Continue offering workshops with the help of select users already trained in using the system.
- · Ask for feedback and even testimonials from users of the system to distribute to other potential participants in future trainings and workshops.
The
implementation of this plan will enable National TeleHealth Center to
successfully diffuse innovation for the following reasons:
- · It allows for the development of the awareness of the plan through a variety of media such as meetings, brochures, email, and phone.
- · It ensures that adequate technical and moral support is consistently available to early adopters of the new system.
- · It provides immediate training at the initiation of the diffusion plan, so that enthusiasm of early adopters is not lost.
- · It generously offers incentives that will encourage participation in the new system as well as recognition for their efforts.
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