Services Commissioning:
Establishing the Case For Change
Published on September 23, 2021
Brett Petersen, Co-Founder of ZEN Enterprise
Background
I like the saying “I fully support the case for change, as long as it doesn’t involve me” or “until it involves me”. This is about the case for change as part of a continual improvement cycle, with a focus on technology to enable effective change to deliver enduring benefits. According to health sector experts Rebbeck Consulting “There is not enough attention on communicating and managing the transition, meaning the behaviour changes often don’t ‘stick’.”
Every organisation is engaging in digital transformation in one form or another. For the not-for-profit health sector the technology investment business case competes with limited resources and higher priorities focussed on service delivery. To support this service delivery most frontline health sector organisations such as Primary and Local Health Networks, Health & Hospital Services and State Government Health agencies engage the commissioning process to facilitate and manage the delivery of healthcare related services to their geographic areas.
According to the Department of Health website Commissioning is “ ..a continual and iterative cycle involving the development and implementation of services based on planning, procurement, monitoring and evaluation. Commissioning describes a broad set of linked activities, including needs assessment, priority setting, service design and procurement through contracts, monitoring of service delivery, and review and evaluation.”
The objectives, goals and benefits of the Commissioning process can be summarised in the following view.
Current Challenges
The health sector currently faces a variety of challenges when it comes to both the commissioning process and the technology involved. A recent PWC Survey on Primary Health Networks (PHN’s) found the biggest challenges revolve around the themes of reporting, supplier performance, data integrity and accuracy as result of the need for best in class contract management, internal systems and the commissioning process. A summary of the key challenges is illustrated in the following view.
If these challenges resonate with you then you’re in the majority and have taken the first step to improving service delivery to your community, through recognition!
Stay tuned for the next episode, on defining and articulating your commissioning process improvement needs.
Brett Petersen is co-CEO of ZEN Enterprise, providing software solutions and consulting services, and can be contacted at brett.petersen@zenenterprise.com.au
ZEN Enterprise is proud to be an innovative software and solution provider delivering proven tangible benefits, including reduced cost and risk and increased ROI. ZEN Enterprise have a growing number of Australian Government, Not-For-Profit and Health sector clients.
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