Beware of "Sign Now-Pay Later" in Telehealth Partnerships

I’ve never met a person who would argue Steven Covey’s Habit #4 in his popular series The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s titled “Win-Win, or No Deal”. It states that achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose. During my 11 years of involvement in Telehealth, which includes numerous partnership agreements, I’ve observed too often how these agreements resemble “Win-lose”, and that’s why I’m urging Sr. Management to model a win-win approach as we negotiate a renewed partnership with the newly amalgamated Ontario Telemedicine Network.

The losers are usually those on the Telehealth front line. “Nobody told me about this.” “I didn’t have any choice in the matter.” These are familiar comments from Telehealth workers across Canada who gather yearly to create a learning community for this wonderful innovation in healthcare and health education.

There’s lack of recognition and reward; work processes are built reactively, often in the wake of errors or frustration; and this often drains the telehealth front line of their passion and commitment before a service is even established. I’ve heard the resentment that Telehealth workers quietly express toward their senior managers because they purchase the telehealth carriage before considering the work horses.

Partnership agreements among provincial and federal groups and individual organizations are absolutely necessary for an efficient and effective Telehealth service. What often happens is that Sr. representatives shake hands and sign agreements and move on to the next administration priority.

The Royal Ottawa Health Care was the first hospital in Canada to be scrutinized against national best-practice standards for Telehealth by the CCHSA. We’re proud that surveyors reported how well we delivered on most of the standards – but the Telehealth people-factor was identified as an area of weakness.
To sign to latest collaborative agreement before fixing these “very fixable” problems would be ignoring the whole point of Accreditation, and would only be repeating an historical telehealth problem that is prevalent across Canada.
I’m proud to say that our Senior Management team understands this – and that’s how a Learning Organization is supposed to work.