Healthcare Innovated: Fusing teams for the right work at the right time
Jodie Granger
Executive Advisor | Healthcare | Innovation | Strategy | Growth | Adaptive Change | Digital | Design Thinking | Advisory - Talks about #Innovation, #Healthcare, #Strategy, #HealthcareInnovated, and #adaptiveleadership
In this edition, we explore how healthcare organisations can achieve greater speed and agility by leveraging fusion teams to tackle today's challenges. We'll explore combining the Blueprint for Impact and the Birkman Matrix to create agile, adaptive teams. Plus, don’t miss our final live session of the year on accelerating change in health and aged care. And, we highlight Medibank's partnership with League to enhance digital healthcare experiences and shift towards preventative care.
In this edition:
Fusion Teams and the Blueprint for Impact: Leveraging the Birkman Matrix for Agile, Adaptive Organisations
To achieve the speed and agility required today, businesses are increasingly turning to fusion teams—cross-functional groups that bring together diverse skills and perspectives to drive innovation and solve problems quickly. Fusion teams operate beyond traditional departmental boundaries, aligning their efforts around specific goals. But to truly harness their potential, these teams must be tailored to fit the strategic focus of each project. This is where the Blueprint for Impact and the Birkman Matrix combine to create a powerful framework.
The Blueprint for Impact divides initiatives into four quadrants: Discovery Haven, Bold Frontier, Optimised Domain, and Steadfast Venture. Each quadrant reflects a unique blend of uncertainty and risk, requiring different team dynamics to succeed. By understanding the Birkman Matrix, we can align team member strengths to each quadrant for maximum impact.
Understanding the Birkman Matrix
The Birkman Matrix helps identify individual work styles and preferences by categorising people’s styles and needs into four key colours:
Each of these styles aligns well with the needs of the different quadrants in the Blueprint for Impact.
Aligning Fusion Teams with the Blueprint for Impact Using the Birkman Matrix
1. Discovery Haven (High Uncertainty, Low Risk)
In this quadrant, the focus is on exploration, ideation and early-stage experimentation. Fusion teams here should include Blue (Thinkers) and Green (Communicators) who are comfortable with ambiguity and can generate creative solutions. These profiles thrive in environments where brainstorming, collaboration and rapid prototyping are crucial.
2. Bold Frontier (High Uncertainty, High Risk)
Projects in the Bold Frontier quadrant are high-stakes and require a balance of creativity and risk management. Teams benefit from a mix of Blue (Thinkers), Green (Communicators), and Yellow (Analysers) to combine innovative thinking with careful strategic assessment. Agile methodologies and a willingness to adapt quickly are key here.
3. Optimised Domain (Low Uncertainty, Low Risk)
In the Optimised Domain, the focus shifts to operational excellence and efficiency. Fusion teams should leverage Yellow (Analysers) and Red (Doers) who excel in refining processes, enhancing productivity and ensuring consistency. These individuals thrive in structured environments where optimisation and continuous improvement are the main goals.
4. Steadfast Venture (Low Uncertainty, High Risk)
In this quadrant, where compliance, strategic partnerships, and risk management are critical, fusion teams need a mix of Red (Doers), Yellow (Analysers), and Green (Communicators). This ensures that tasks are executed with precision, risks are managed methodically and stakeholder relationships are maintained effectively.
Bringing It All Together
By aligning fusion teams with the Blueprint for Impact quadrants using insights from the Birkman Matrix, organisations can create agile, resilient teams tailored to the specific needs of each project. Rather than pigeonholing people into rigid roles, this approach recognises that everyone has unique strengths and preferences. The key is to align those strengths with the type of work where individuals can thrive.
As organisations embark on new initiatives, especially in areas like innovation, it's worth considering not just what needs to be done but how and who is best suited for each phase of the work. By understanding and leveraging people's natural inclinations we can unlock their full potential and build organisations that are truly adaptable, innovative, and future-ready.
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Medibank Partners with League to Enhance Digital Healthcare Experience
Medibank has announced a three-year strategic partnership with League, a global leader in healthcare consumer experience platforms. This collaboration is set to deliver a more personalised and engaging digital healthcare experience for Medibank's 4.2 million customers, aligning with the company's vision to enhance health and wellbeing across Australia by 2030.
Shifting Towards Preventative Healthcare
Traditionally, private health insurers like Medibank have engaged with customers primarily at the end of their health journeys, often during claims processing after medical treatments. Recognising the need for a more proactive approach, Medibank is aiming to engage with customers earlier, focusing on prevention and wellbeing rather than just treatment.
"We want to be involved much earlier in that health journey, all the way to the prevention end," said David Lochrie, Medibank's Head of Digital. "This means delivering engaging digital experiences that people want to connect with well before they get sick and make a private health insurance claim."
Leveraging League's Innovative Platform
League's data and AI-driven technology platform will be seamlessly integrated into Medibank's digital offerings, particularly the My Medibank app. The platform provides a wealth of existing content, health journeys and a sophisticated recommendation engine, all of which can be customised to meet Medibank's specific needs.
"It's an out-of-the-box platform that comes with a huge amount of existing content and functionality," David explained. "But it's also a development platform where we can build our own experiences and modify the user interface. Our goal is to have a completely seamless, embedded experience for our customers."
A key feature is League's health profile, which offers engaging and personalised health assessments. Combined with an extensive library of healthcare and wellness content, this allows Medibank to tailor information to each customer's unique needs, enhancing the overall user experience.
Enhancing Data Analytics and Personalisation
The partnership also strengthens Medibank's data analytics capabilities. League's platform is built on FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards, providing a robust and standardised framework for health data. This enables Medibank to not only utilise data generated from user interactions but also integrate other customer data to deliver more personalised services.
Focusing on Corporate Health and Wellbeing
Initially, the partnership will focus on Medibank's new corporate digital health and wellbeing solutions, aiming to transform the employee health experience across corporate Australia. League will also be integrated into the My Medibank app early next year, with the potential to launch separate, stand-alone apps if needed.
"We have a clear ambition to better connect health for 10 million Australians," said Rob Deeming, Medibank’s Group Lead Digital & Ventures. "League’s capability will provide the infrastructure to enable these experiences and deliver greater value for our customers and the community."
League's Expansion Beyond North America
This agreement marks League's first partnership outside North America, highlighting Medibank's commitment to innovation in digital healthcare. Founded in 2014, League has established itself as a pioneer in healthcare consumer experience platforms, working with organizations like Shoppers Drug Mart, Manulife, and Highmark Health.
Implications for the Future of Healthcare
This partnership represents a significant step forward in digital healthcare innovation. By focusing on personalised, data-driven and preventative healthcare solutions, Medibank is setting a new standard for customer engagement in the health insurance industry.