Studies have shown that most people would rather be unhappy than uncertain. But when you are unhappy, you are less motivated, more stressed and may just feel lost. Why would you want to feel that way? And doesn’t that seem worse than being uncertain? Plus, how you deal with uncertainty can define your path towards happiness and overall success! So really, uncertainty and happiness go hand and hand.
In today’s world uncertainty is inevitable, especially in the healthcare payer universe. Many questions aren’t getting answered and payers find themselves chasing their tails. What’s going to happen to the Affordable Care Act? Should we pull out of the exchanges? Are we going to receive funding? Even though uncertainty can be stressful and full of surprises, there are steps you can take to be better prepared for these arduous times. When you are faced with the unknown you to think more critically about how to manage change, deal with adversity and prepare yourself for the unexpected. Forced to be more resourceful in how we meet certain goals and objectives, we can approach uncertain times as an opportunity to make changes.
Technology should be in the forefront when we start discussing resourcefulness, but some healthcare payers are still uncertain about technology. Why? Because at times this means an upfront expense without proven outcomes. But what if I said it could be proven? Technology can be a key resource helping your organization:
- Shape your regulatory requirements – eliminating the need for an out of compliant process.
- Create transparency throughout your organization, allowing for more process insight into bottlenecks and reducing future hiccups.
- Automate and eliminate steps within a process that results in productivity improvements, cost reduction and increased efficiency.
You can’t control external factors, but you can establish efficient, measurable business processes to improve how your organization does business. By leveraging technology and implementing software solutions, you can control your business processes and be better equipped to adapt to the ever-changing environment. This will allow you to focus more of your efforts on keeping people healthy and making sure they are receiving the highest quality of care.
“There will be very few occasions when you are absolutely certain about anything. You will consistently be called upon to make decisions with limited information. That being the case, your goal should not be to eliminate uncertainty. Instead, you must develop the art of being clear in the face of uncertainty.”
~ Andy Stanley