Driving Adoption, Fueling Progress: Building Endurance and Sustainability in HHS
Technology implementation in Health and Human Services (HHS) is not just about launching a new system—it's about ensuring long-term adoption, ongoing impact, and sustainable progress. As agencies begin to embrace modern commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions, success increasingly depends on more than just technical execution. It requires a comprehensive change management strategy that prioritizes the human side of transformation, empowering the workforce, maintaining momentum, and fostering continuous innovation.
Building Buy-In: Change Management as a Foundation
When launching a new technology solution, the road to success begins with building buy-in. HHS workers are experts in their fields, but they’re often overwhelmed by large caseloads, high turnover, and administrative burden. Without clear, empathetic communication and targeted support, even the most helpful tools may struggle to gain traction.
That’s why effective change management is essential. From the earliest stages of implementation, agencies should engage their workforce in the transformation journey, listening to concerns, providing context, and reinforcing how the technology will help make their day-to-day work easier. Anchoring this process in transparent communication fosters the trust necessary for adoption.
Digital Ambassadors and User Communities
One proven strategy for attracting internal champions for new technology is establishing a Digital Ambassador program. These ambassadors—typically frontline staff or supervisors—are trained early in the implementation process to become experts in the new system. They serve as go-to resources for their peers, helping demystify the platform and foster a culture of shared learning.
In tandem, cultivating user communities across and within departments can promote collaboration and accelerate adoption. These communities become powerful forums for feedback, support, and the sharing of tips and best practices. When users feel like they’re learning together and have peers to turn to, change becomes less intimidating and more achievable.
Continuous Learning Post-Launch
Too often, training efforts peak during go-live and quickly taper off after. But adoption isn’t a one-time event. It’s a continuous process. Offering ongoing training opportunities—whether through virtual modules, lunch-and-learns, or refresher workshops—helps to reinforce knowledge and ensures that workers continue to use the solution to its full potential.
By embedding learning into daily operations, agencies can also prepare for the inevitable: turnover. A continuous learning approach ensures that institutional knowledge doesn’t disappear with departing staff and that new hires are brought up to speed efficiently.
Closing the Feedback Loop
One of the most powerful levers for long-term success is an intentional feedback loop. Encouraging and collecting regular user feedback ensures that agencies can proactively address issues and inform future solution enhancements. This feedback can uncover both pain points and unexpected use cases that impact ongoing developments.
In a COTS environment, this feedback is especially critical. Roadmaps are shaped not only by broad industry trends, but by the real-life needs of users. Agencies that cultivate strong relationships with their vendors and provide detailed, constructive feedback, can help shape future product direction in ways that benefit their program, workforce, and community.
The Power of Purpose-Built Solutions and Domain Knowledge
One reason feedback loops work so well is that modern HHS solutions are increasingly purpose-built for specific domains, such as Child Welfare, Child Care, and Public Benefits programs. These solutions are designed with the input of domain experts, ensuring they reflect the unique workflows and priorities of the programs they serve.
This built-in program knowledge significantly accelerates implementation timelines and reduces the need for customization. Just as importantly, it makes solutions more intuitive and effective for end users, easing the burden of adoption. When workers see that a system speaks their language, they’re far more likely to fully engage with it.
Sustaining the Momentum
Change doesn’t end at go-live. In fact, it’s what happens afterward that determines whether transformation takes hold. By building a culture of continuous improvement—one rooted in engagement, learning, and feedback—HHS agencies can sustain momentum and achieve lasting results.
This is not about one-time upgrades; it’s about building a foundation for long-term innovation. Agencies that invest in people as much as technology, that prioritize feedback and support, and that partner with vendors offering domain-specific solutions will be best positioned to deliver better outcomes and experiences for their workforce and the individuals they serve.
In the HHS space, success belongs to those who understand that transformation is not just technical—it’s human. That’s why CITI not only delivers powerful, purpose-built technology solutions, but provides strategic support to guide agencies through every phase of change. From implementation to ongoing optimization, CITI works alongside agencies to foster user adoption, build internal capacity, and create a culture of continuous improvement—ensuring that change doesn’t just happen, but endures.