Does Your Help Desk Need Help?

This time of year, every IT director and clinical manager is dreading one task in particular — the on-call schedule. Between PTO and legal holidays, the best employees can get really cranky when they are tasked with on-call Thanksgiving Day. 

It really puts a damper on the holidays. I’ve got to stay close by, I’ve got to tote my laptop everywhere, miss the big plays, and shush my kids when they’re just, well, being kids.

With many of us supporting the same, or similar architecture, engines, applications, and workflows, can’t we find some way to make it better? Can’t we work together to come up with a BIG idea? I know we can. 

Otherwise, we risk losing great employees, and their “tribal” knowledge and expertise to not only solve problems but to mentor others to solve problems. 

When those employees get sick of on-call, get sick of spending holidays on the phone, and get sick of shushing the kids, they leave. We all long for the days when staff would make eye contact; when we weren’t the bad guys. 

This is too important and as even the smallest, most rural hospitals are becoming completely automated, the pool of expertise is taking on a greater strain.
 
It’s not likely that Healthcare can sustain this burden long-term and we’ve got to work together to come up with a plan. I’m trying to start that conversation at HIMSS17, in a YourTurn session. The topic is “Does your Help Desk need help?” and I need your vote and your voice. 

The ten topics with the most votes will be assigned a room where we can talk through and work through challenges like this. If you agree that this conversation is important to the future of healthcare, and that, whether you’re attending HIMSS17 or not, this conversation should happen, then please vote here for the “Does your Help Desk need Help?” session.

If this topic is selected, I will report back findings and ideas here after HIMSS17!

Note: Voting ends December 5. Only one vote per person is allowed by HIMSS.

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