SEI Atlanta consultant Mike Jardine discusses applying industry knowledge, in-depth experiences, and fruitful collaborations to create and deliver digital transformation solutions in the healthcare space.
Mike Jardine began his career by interning with a global public health agency — a start that spurred his passion for healthcare. Before joining SEI, Mike jumped into consulting at a mid-size firm specializing in EHR implementations and continued his career with a large accounting firm in their Healthcare Advisory Services arm. He has worked on various projects from on ERP system implementation for an 11-facility hospital system to EHR implementation testing to helping a life sciences firm implement a new DevOps model.
Despite appreciating the rewards of life as a consultant, Mike often had to travel for projects — a major time commitment that brought him away from his family and friends in the Atlanta area. When the global pandemic halted business travel, Mike made the move to SEI so he could work more closely with local enterprises, have more time at home, and make a positive impact on the local community.
Mike joined SEI Atlanta in October 2020 and was immediately drawn to the “collaborative culture” brought about by SEI’s ownership model. With every employee acting as a co-owner of the company, SEI consultants are incentivized to work together towards common goals. “Everyone has been a pleasure to work with,” says Mike. SEI consultants are personally invested in creating high-quality work. This creates a warm business climate conducive to cohesive problem-solving.
How COVID Changed Healthcare
Before joining SEI, Mike became familiar with telehealth capabilities through conferences and other consulting experiences. One challenge he sees in store for the healthcare industry is the accelerated increase in demand for telehealth and other virtual assistance capabilities brought about by the pandemic.
“Many patients can’t make regular appointments or see doctors easily, especially in rural areas,” Mike explains. “The pandemic contributes to the need for online healthcare assistance for maintaining health and treating diseases.” After working in the healthcare industry for most of his career, Mike has noticed that some companies are upgrading their healthcare and telehealth systems rapidly while others are getting left behind. As the need for stable and scalable telehealth platforms becomes more widespread, healthcare professionals must prepare to adapt.
Healthcare providers often understand the need for telehealth capabilities to maintain continuity of care, but they struggle when tackling the technology, implementation, and rollout. “The ‘why’ is there, but the ‘how’ is more challenging for some organizations than others,” Mike observes. This is where SEI comes in. SEI helps healthcare professionals in different organizations select the right vendors and implement the necessary technologies to meet post-COVID patient needs.
An Agile Approach to Healthcare Solutions
SEI Atlanta brings a deep agile expertise. Atlanta consultants are especially skilled at handling projects that require additional support to deliver complex solutions on a tight schedule. As the healthcare industry prepares for new telehealth services and solutions, Mike believes providers and professionals must adopt agile methodologies to keep up.
Healthcare organizations tend to have waterfall project management styles that do not always encourage collaboration. New solutions tend to follow a strict “design, build, test, train, and go-live” formula. Even when companies adopt Agile methodologies, they focus on designating new roles instead of fostering a culture of collaboration. Yet as Mike is keen to stress — a flexible culture is key. The culture and behaviors proper to agile need to be adopted across the organization, and applying agile methodologies means being flexible whenever and wherever necessary.
“SEI is on the Front Lines”
SEI-ers have rich backgrounds across a breadth of subject areas, and they have local footprints in the communities they serve. Through his work at SEI Atlanta, Mike has improved upon his abilities to identify and solve problems quickly. He is adept at helping organizations “get back on track.” Since SEI is well-acquainted with the structure and operations of many healthcare institutions, the organization is always a step ahead when it comes to understanding and implementing innovative technologies and operational improvements.
Mike and his colleagues are accustomed to helping healthcare institutions tackle their biggest challenges. SEI’s culture of hard work, dedication, and collaboration brings consultants and clients together to deliver top-of-the-line solutions for the healthcare industry. “SEI isn’t built for people sitting on the sidelines,” he observes. “If you’re trying to sit on the sidelines, you’re at the wrong place.”
