Do systems really make things easier?
We’ve all heard the dreaded phrase “something wrong with the system”. It always seems to come at the worst possible time. Like when you’re checking into a hotel after a 12-hour flight and just want to catch some shut eye. Or when you’ve come to a restaurant to celebrate an event with your family, but the hostess can’t find your booking. Or when you’re at the hospital with a restless toddler at 11pm and just want to go home but the bill is still being generated. So, do systems really make things easier?
I pondered this over the one and a half hour wait I endured for my bill at a reputed children’s hospital located opposite the Economic centre in Colombo 5. Just as a guest in a hotel goes through three different stages, (the check-in / the stay / the check-out), the inpatient in a hospital encounters three phases – the admission, the intervention and finally the discharge. We all know that the discharge processes in many hospitals are huge bottlenecks.
My son had to undergo a minor operation, which, from the time he was taken from the ward to being wheeled back after the operation, took just 45 minutes. However, the not insignificant bill took over 90 minutes to be prepared. In the end, when we left the hospital after 11pm, cranky toddler in tow, I wasn’t pleased, to say the least.
The hapless billing clerk told me that they were having issues with the new system. I understood her plight. It was no point scolding her. Most likely, the bigwigs sitting in plush leather chairs who conceptualized the new system didn’t even bother to consult its actual users. Instead, I smiled at her and told her to convey a suggestion from me to her bosses – ‘Toss the new system into the hazardous waste bin and re-implement the old one’.
Do systems really make things easier? It’s easy to hate the system. In fact, that night I did. However, the reality is, systems are only as good as the people who develop them. You can make a fantastic system if you spend time understanding how it should work, what tasks it should accomplish, and most importantly, see whether it actually streamlines processes.
For example, does it make the task at hand easier for end users to perform? Does it cut down on total process time? Does it result in increased customer satisfaction? For the way the new system at the hospital acted during my time there, all three of the above questions can be answered with a resounding NO.
Now, I had no way of establishing whether the issues with the new system were purely technical nor could I be certain that, had it properly functioned – it would have addressed the real issues many of us face at hospitals, namely, the inordinate delays in getting the bill!.
Another factor aside of upgrading the system, is whether age-old processes are updated/ revamped?.
Yes, systems should be upgraded. Technology is evolving at a fantastic pace, and with the advent of artificial intelligence, more and more tasks can be automated. But, if done incorrectly, it will actually add more work, more processing time, more confusion, and more irate customers.
Ashraaq Wahab – Director of Sales & Marketing and Technical, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Automotive Journalist, Marketer, Photographer and Writer, who enjoys penning his thoughts, insights and ideas on a variety of topics
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