How to Get Healthcare Teams to Adopt a New Clinical Communication Platform

Modern clinical communication tools are critical to improving clinical workflows and the delivery of patient care, while reducing operational friction and inefficiencies. However, even with clear benefits, adopting a clinical communication platform can be a challenge at healthcare organizations.

In this article, we’ll go over the barriers of healthcare technology adoption, how to address those challenges, and a framework to follow to boost user adoption of clinical communication tools at your organization. 

‍

Why Healthcare Technology Adoption Rates Matter

In healthcare, nearly two-thirds of change management projects fail. The failures can be attributed to poor planning, reluctant staff, and poor communication. 

Healthcare technology adoption can be a challenge for the same reasons. When healthcare professionals are used to their existing tools and workflows, introducing a new technology can be met with resistance, and ultimately result in low adoption rates among staff. 

Adoption rates are a critical indicator of whether a technology investment is delivering its intended value. Even with the most advanced features, healthcare tools can only deliver operational efficiencies when they’re actively used by clinical teams and staff. Low adoption rates can indicate poor usability, insufficient training, or unclear value – all of which undermine staff confidence in the tool.

Widespread adoption indicates that the technology is aligned with clinical workflows, trusted by users, and embedded into daily practice. From a strategic perspective, monitoring adoption rates helps leaders evaluate the success of change management initiatives and identify areas where additional support is needed. 

‍

The cost of poor communication in healthcare

There’s a lot at stake for clinical teams who don’t have a seamless communications system already in place. Without a unified platform for secure messaging, on-call management, care coordination and workflow management, teams risk increased miscommunication and the compounding results, such as security breaches or medical errors. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that the global, annual cost of medication errors is $42 billion USD. Another study discovered that 49% of malpractice claims involved communication failures – and these failures contribute to $1.7 billion in malpractice costs. 

‍

Benefits of modern clinical communication platforms

Modern clinical communication platforms help unify healthcare teams by offering a streamlined approach for secure messaging, on-call and workflow management, care coordination and clinician communication. Specific benefits include: 

• Improved patient safety: Modern clinical communication platforms help clinical teams stay on top of patient care, lower the risk of medical errors, and improve response times to provide the best outcomes. 
• Real-time communication: Centralized updates ensure everyone has the information they need when they need it and helps staff feel in control and confident in their decisions. 
• Improved care coordination: By streamlining task management and information sharing, teams reduce errors, delays, and duplicated efforts. This alignment enables smoother, safer care coordination. 
• Improved team collaboration: The right tools help clinicians stay aligned with contact management, on-call solutions, and centralized communication that cuts down on confusion and wasted efforts.
• Increased staff productivity: Streamlined messaging and fewer interruptions let clinicians focus on patient care instead of chasing updates. 
• Higher job satisfaction and retention: By reducing administrative burden, staff can focus on their core duties, resulting in higher job satisfaction. 

‍

Understanding the Barriers to Technology Adoption in Healthcare

Even with the promise of more effective communication and improved patient care, adopting new technology isn’t always welcomed. Healthcare tends to be a conservative industry that relies on long-established tools and methods, so introducing a new platform can naturally be met with resistance. 

There are several common barriers clinical teams may face that can slow or even derail implementation if they’re not addressed early.

‍

Infrastructure and technology gaps

Not every healthcare facility has the same level of IT resources, bandwidth, or device availability. In more rural areas, internet connectivity may also be unreliable. If a new platform requires constant connectivity or updated hardware to function, teams working in older facilities or rural settings may be hesitant to bring it into their current infrastructure. 

‍

Resistance to change and workflows

Healthcare professionals are shown to be resistant to change. The resistance often stems from feelings of uncertainty, doubt, and frustration. Introducing a new system into their workflow can feel disruptive or even risky. 

Not to mention, for clinical teams who may already feel stretched thin, taking the time to learn a new tool – no matter how helpful it promises to be – will likely get pushed to the bottom of their to-do list. 

Without clear understanding of local contextual factors that drive resistance, communication about the benefits of adopting a new platform, and strong support throughout implementation, this resistance can stall adoption. 

‍

Budget and value perception

Without clear operational benefits, executives may question whether a new platform delivers enough value to justify the cost and additional efforts to implement it. To get executive leadership invested in adopting new technology, frame the technology in terms of its impact on patient safety, operational and clinical efficiency, and cost savings. When the benefits are visible and quantifiable, executives can better understand the full return on its investment. 

After leadership is committed, there’s the additional hurdle of getting frontline staff to understand its value and be open to learning a new tool. To overcome this, it’s important to articulate the platform’s value in tangible, measurable terms that impact end users. Providing clear metrics, such as reductions in communication delays, decreases in handoff errors, or documented time savings, helps staff understand not only how the tool benefits the organization, but also how it directly improves their day-to-day work.

‍

Laying Out the Groundwork for Successful Technology Adoption in Healthcare

By acknowledging these barriers early and planning for them, healthcare organizations can turn potential obstacles into opportunities to build trust, demonstrate value, and lay the groundwork for smoother adoption. 

‍

Leadership and change management

Leadership buy-in and change management are two of the most important drivers of successful clinical communication platform adoption. Without them, even the most seamless and easy-to-use tool can struggle to gain traction.

Leadership buy-in signals to staff that the change isn’t just another IT project, but rather, a strategic priority backed by the executive team.

To demonstrate buy-in, first identify key stakeholders within the organization. This includes the CMO, CIO or IT leader, hospital administrators, procurement team, and clinical leaders. These are usually the heads of departments or physicians with strong influence. Department leaders must actively champion the platform by being vocal about its benefits and modeling its use cases in front of their team. Showing visible support of the tool helps build trust with clinical teams who are hesitant about its benefits. 

Structured change management can also accelerate adoption. Instead of leaving teams to figure out the new tool on their own, plan a defined approach that involves thorough communication, training, and feedback.

Effective change management anticipates obstacles, addresses concerns early, and guides staff through each stage of the transition. This kind of framework keeps the rollout organized and prevents important steps from being overlooked.

‍

Communicating the “Why”

Before asking clinical teams to change their workflows, it’s important to clearly explain how the new platform will benefit them and how it aligns with their values as healthcare providers. Identify key outcomes to communicate to staff when rolling out the tool, including: 

• Reduced response times 
• Improved communication workflows 
• Improved coordination across teams 
• Reduced admin or IT burden
• Improved patient outcomes and satisfaction 

By connecting the technology to meaningful outcomes, you’ll help staff see how it directly improves their daily work and patient care – not just the hospital’s bottom line.

Additionally, repetition is key to getting the message to stick. Clinical teams are busy, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll see the initial email memo announcing the new tool. Plan to discuss the rollout several times across multiple channels to ensure that everyone becomes aware and familiar with the project. Consider using email memos, video announcements, and all-hands meetings to reach the staff in numerous ways. 

‍

Building a project team and identifying champions

Adoption rate increases when active, vocal team members advocate for the platform. Identify super users – ideally staff from both the administrative and clinical sides – who can be champions for the tool. These are people who have natural influence within the staff and will be strong end users. Their role as a champion is to properly communicate the benefits of the platform and help with training during implementation. 

Ask for their feedback before rollout, and use their input to refine the communication plan. When staff see that their perspective shaped the implementation, they’ll have more trust in its success.

It’s also imperative to build an implementation team. This team will help manage the rollout by getting involved in training, documenting clinical team feedback, and keeping track of usage and other defined metrics. 

‍

Choosing the right platform

The clinical communications platform you end up choosing plays a major role in the adoption rate. For the end users, features and price matter less than usability, core functionality, seamless integrations, and support. 

Make sure the platform you choose offers a UX-friendly interface that’s tailored to clinicians. An easy-to-use interface can make onboarding smoother. In fact, it helped one healthcare provider adopt their clinical communications platform in a matter of weeks. 

The ability to integrate with existing workflows is also beneficial. The last thing clinical teams want is to re-learn everything from scratch, so it’s important to choose a tool that seamlessly integrates with existing workflows and processes. 

Lastly, when evaluating which platform to choose, consider how much training and support it offers. The more hands-on training you can provide to your clinical teams, the better the adoption rate will be. 

‍

Training and Implementation Strategies

The final piece of a successful platform adoption is the training component. When deploying a clinical communications platform, it’s essential to offer proper training and provide opportunities for feedback. 

Here is a framework healthcare organizations can use to establish effective training and implementation: 

‍

Planning and milestones

Before launching a full-scale implementation, consider testing the platform among small groups. There are a couple of ways to execute the testing and validation: 

• Pilot programs: Identify a group of power users who can test the tool for a duration of time. You can then use their feedback to refine the program and inform how you roll it out to the rest of the teams. 
• Phased rollouts: Similarly, you can also introduce the platform to one department at a time for a trial period instead of overwhelming the entire organization with one big launch. 

Before launching the tool with test groups, identify key milestones to monitor. Milestones can include pilot program review, phased rollout, and staff training. The goal of tracking each milestone is to be able to measure adoption rate and success after the full-scale implementation. 

‍

Tailored training programs

The more hands-on training staff gets, the more comfortable they’ll be with the platform. Increased familiarity with a tool helps make the transition to a new workflow smoother. 

For example, Hypercare offers on-site training when the platform is initially deployed to field questions and drive uptake of the platform. For one large health system, Hypercare provided hands-on training to 2,000 users over the course of a week, which helped accelerate adoption. Within the first month of implementation, 70% of eligible users were active, ensuring that the new systems and processes were well incorporated into clinical operations. 

Look for clinical communication platforms that offer various personalized training solutions, whether on-site or through dedicated clinical workflow consultants. 

‍

Maintaining momentum

Once the platform has been rolled out and training has taken place, it’s important to keep the momentum going. Have a system for gathering feedback from staff. Set up regular check-ins with the clinical team to understand their usage and address any questions or concerns, so you can continue to adjust and refine workflows as needed.  

It’s also important to offer ongoing training sessions so everyone is familiar with the platform’s features and use cases, ensuring the whole team can make the most out of the tools they have. 

‍

Measuring Success and Scaling Up

Success continues long after the tool is first introduced. To accurately measure adoption rates and scale your communication systems, there needs to be a long-term strategy in place. 

‍

Defining KPIs and adjusting them

Having clear KPIs in place is the most effective way to measure successful adoption. Identify what you’re aiming to improve with your new platform so you can track the right metrics. 

Key metrics can include:

• Usage rates: Understanding how many staff members are using the tool in their workflows, and how often they’re using it, is the baseline metric for success. 
• Response times: Response times should have improved after implementing your clinical communications tool, so keep track of response times before and after adopting the tool. 
• Workflow-specific outcomes: Certain critical workflows, such as stroke, STEMI, and trauma activations, will have outcomes routinely measured. These patient-centered outcomes are important to monitor closely to adjust workflows as necessary.
• Satisfaction scores: Collect feedback from the staff to understand their satisfaction with the tool or see what needs improvement. 

Be flexible with your KPIs, especially when you’re getting started with a new technology. You may uncover different metrics as the tool is rolled out, so be sure to ask your staff for feedback on a regular basis to help inform what you should be measuring. 

‍

Next Steps: Adopting a New Clinical Communication Platform

A carefully thought-out adoption strategy is the key to overcoming resistance to new healthcare technologies and to ensure success. Identify the key outcomes you want to achieve, devise a way to clearly communicate those outcomes to staff, engage key stakeholders and garner their feedback and support early, and identify who can champion the new tool as it’s being implemented. 

If you’re ready to implement a new clinical communications platform at your healthcare organization, learn how Hypercare can help.