A Step by Step Gap Analysis Framework for Healthcare Facilities

The pandemic has altered the whole healthcare landscape like no one has ever imagined before. The healthcare players are busy in searching for a solution for what has turned out to be the worst nightmare of humankind. On the other hand, they are also expected to analyze the gaps in their processes to render better patient experience in these challenging times.

 The changed landscape is also demanding operational capabilities for which no one has a playbook or guidelines. So, is it time to re-imagine your healthcare strategy by analysing the gaps in operations? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

 But how healthcare professionals can go about re-imagining various operational aspects involved in running a healthcare facility successfully?

 Be it the enhanced patient experience or the efficiency of your resources, it all starts with finding the gaps and taking measures to address them. And, here is a gap analysis framework that could be implemented in any type of healthcare ecosystem to improve quality and performance.

 Here is a step by step guide for you to understand how exactly healthcare players can assess their processes for gaps, integrate best practices, and drive enhanced care using this framework.

 An ideal gap analysis consists of four important phases - Plan, Collect, Implement, and Retrospect.

 Phase-1: Plan

 ●       Step-1: Is it raising the patient satisfactory bar in your facility or is it achieving high productivity with enhanced quality?

 This phase involves listing down the goals that you want to accomplish. Determine a clear goal that is in line with a realistic timeframe.

 ●       Step-2: Once the goal and timeframe are in place, the next step is to zero on the involved stakeholders.

 The skills, equipment, learning and development, and the training will be analyzed, involving the stakeholders.

 Phase-2: Collect

 ●       Step-3: To put it into simple perspective, a gap analysis could be defined as analysing as much data as possible, connecting the dots, finding the gaps and filling them with filling them promptly.

 Start collecting as much data as possible from various stages involved in a patient’s life cycle within the facility. Better understanding of data not only helps the players to come up with better solutions but also helps them realize if a change is going to work or not in the long run.

 ●       Step-4: Consult with the respective stakeholders to understand their challenges in the existing process. You can unhook as many blockers by simply talking to the employees and running their feedback against the collected data.

 Collating and analyzing data is a good practice but taking inputs from the stakeholders before making a process change is a sure way to cement the bridges between the process gaps.

 Phase-3: Implement

 ●       Step-5: Clear analysis of data and understanding of the existing process helps you tackle the blockers from a better vantage point.

 Implementing a process change, in a well analyzed hospital ecosystem, lets the players know if it (the change) results in process improvement or not.

 ●       Step-6: Getting used to the changed processes may take time for employees and training the stakeholders thoroughly is the only solace the healthcare players can rely on to speed up the adaptability.

 Try to nurture the onus and leadership qualities in your employees and convey the value the process change could bring to experience better results.

 Phase-4: Retrospect

 ●       Step-7: Processes tend to fail irrespective of the background analysis. Retrospecting is a practice that could help you understand what went wrong and what could have been done right.

 Have these retrospection meetings in place at regular intervals with all the stakeholders involved. These meetings could help you navigate through any hardships that rose as a result of the process change.

 ●       Step-8: Taking it slow and implementing any process change in a steady and precise manner plays an important role in getting closer to the already set goals.

 Collect the data of newly implemented process changes and analyze it for any signs of reduced efficiency or quality. If the signs are positive, you know the drill!

 Gap analysis is dependent on the efficiency of identifying the right data points, analyzing them together, finding the gaps, locating the instances of these gaps, and generating the process changes and implementing them accordingly.

 Leverage the professional experience and industrial expertise of your nearest healthcare consulting firm or a gap analysis expert to drive better results by continuously improving and improvising your operations and processes.