Alumni Name: Hendrik Verroken
Class Year: 2018
Current Industry: Healthcare
Title: Doctor, Chief of Staff @ Mariaziekenhuis
Which BSSE theory (or theories) do you regularly implement in your work?
Jobs-to-Be-Done helps me understand specific patient needs at every step of the care journey in our hospital, which allows me to take a patient-focused, holistic approach to developing and providing integrative services.
Detail a situation in which you put one of the theories to use:
Our hospital’s potential for revenue growth was limited in the maternity ward due to a stagnant number of births over the past several years. In order to grow revenue and improve care, the executive board proposed cosmetic solutions such as architectural changes to hospital rooms that would make them more comfortable for pregnant women and their newborns compared to other hospitals in the hope of attracting new patients. However, I wanted to understand what really makes expectant mothers choose a hospital. I started watching examples of JTBD interviews and began talking with expectant families and families that were trying to have a baby. I realized that there were several reasons why women choose our hospital: we offer the least invasive procedures and more birth choices than other hospitals, such as the option to see a midwife. But the most important job was having access to all the necessary care services from prenatal all the way to postnatal phase, albeit disconnected from each other. I knew at that point that the biggest opportunity for us was to provide continuity of care from prenatal all the way through delivery and postnatal services that are focused around the patient who would have a specialized multi-functional team to follow the entire pregnancy journey. The patient would interact with the same care personnel at all times who would be responsible for initiating and coordinating the necessary care at all stages.
What was the result?
This led to a comprehensive strategy for the maternity ward that includes internal operational teams of gynecologists and midwives that follow a pregnancy through all stages and offer home care for the first weeks after birth. The hospital’s executive board allocated resources for the first stage of the implementation and some changes are already underway. For example, as part of the first stage of the implementation, a group of home nurses is outlining a proposal to restructure home care for the first weeks after birth.
Were there any challenges and, if so, what were they?
The most important challenge for me was aligning the interests of all internal and external stakeholders around the new strategy for the maternity ward and how it fits into the overall strategy for the hospital. Besides patients, I had to interview all my hospital stakeholders to understand their JTBDs to figure out how to position the proposed changes to the maternity ward. Implementing a strategy based on JTBD requires balancing the formal structures already in place with some changes to organizational culture.
Do you have any advice for other alumni looking to deploy the theory?
I believe that a purpose driven mindset is key. To make any kind of organizational change, one needs to gain an understanding of all the different jobs to be done of internal and external stakeholders and integrate them. People have to understand the benefits of the change to truly be on board.