(graphic modified from Celemi)Intangible investment, Value, in simple terms, is the assets of a company that don't show up on the balance sheet. Big examples are investments in R&D, employee training, and the critical knowledge and experience of the staff.In general, there exists a slump in intangible investment. Despite, or perhaps because of ARRA, it is apparent this has happened in our industry, EHRs, both ambulatory and inpatient/enterprise. The investment in R&D spending has been going to address certification requirements and implementation planning, starting with the selection and sales process. But precious little has taken place to address the non-goals (i.e. substantially upgrading usability or collaboration through exchanges.)There's a nice discussion of this high-level issue in Mike Mandel's "Tracking Intangible Investments" in the video podcast here. He defines intangible investment as money spent on:1. Research and Development2. Product Development3. Design4. Worker Training The points he makes are that our economic statistics don't track these things, and we (the US) are grossly under-investing in these areas. And because the GDP does not reflect this, things are gloomier than we think or have been led to believe.
The concept that intangible assets are critical in a knowledge economy, like HCIT and Healthcare delivery itself, is far from new. A decade ago, directors and VPs of a former employer were sent to a three-day training course by Celemi called "Tango" (created by Karl Erik Sveiby). The purpose was to stress the importance of managers and executives thinking in terms of:1. Corporate Knowhow2. Corporate Image3. Personnel Competence . . . and how these factors relate to business prospecting, staffing (both entry and higher levels), and the capacity to do various kinds of work.The decisions produced by this thinking translate into two things. First, whether a company can handle simple or complex projects. No value assessment, both can be important and offer distinct opportunities for business health and growth. And second, whether a company is appropriately configured for low or high customer volume.As we finalize our 2010 budgetary planning, both vendors and hospitals, we're all looking at the revenue and expense projections. We are all thinking about staffing and project management for millions in incentive dollars. In some cases, tens to hundreds of millions. The incredible opportunity, however, is to translate this into strategic implications and plays. Number one among those is staff turnover. Too high and discontent is rampant, which gets in the way of pleasing customers, old and new. Too low and stagnation and complacency rule the organization. Further, based on your organization's goals and capabilities, the mix of the four categories in the opening graphic (from Celemi) may be the most important initial point of focus.This process offers us a true opportunity to quickly inventory our organizations' intangibles, thereby gaining insight to the best alternatives available so we can take action on what's really needed to succeed. Frankly, I'm both optimistic and excited about going into 2010. There's far more clarity than what we were facing 12 months ago.
