How a leading children's hospital used Fusion Delivery to target 30% faster delivery across operational teams

A nationally recognized children's healthcare organization needed a way to bring business, operations and technology together around shared outcomes, with a target of 30% faster delivery across operational teams. Agile Brains designed and implemented a Fusion Delivery Model that created cross-functional teams, clarified ownership, and introduced practical Agile ways of working without forcing operational teams into a one-size-fits-all framework.

The organization wanted to improve how work moved across its operational, Revenue Cycle, business and technology teams. Traditional delivery created handoffs between functional groups, priorities competed for limited capacity, and teams lacked a consistent way to organize work, make decisions and deliver improvements incrementally.

The challenge

Agile had traditionally been associated with software development, but much of the work the organization needed to improve was operational and cross-functional. Revenue Cycle and operational initiatives required business subject-matter experts, technology resources, functional leaders and delivery professionals, people who sat in different departments, carried competing priorities and worked in different ways. Introducing Scrum ceremonies alone would not solve that.

The organization needed a delivery model that could bring the right people together around an outcome while remaining practical for healthcare operations. Roles had to be clear, work had to be visible, teams needed a manageable backlog, and leaders needed confidence that Agile would improve delivery rather than add another layer of process.

How we helped

The Fusion Delivery Model. Agile Brains worked with organizational leaders and teams to design and implement a delivery model built on cross-functional ownership rather than functional handoffs. The model brought together five complementary roles: the Fusion Project Manager, Functional Subject Matter Expert, Fusion Architect, Fusion Delivery Team and Fusion Delivery Lead. Together they connected business knowledge, technical expertise, delivery coordination and leadership around a common outcome.

Agile adapted to the work. We did not impose a standard software-development model on operational teams. Teams learned practical Agile fundamentals, then were coached to establish clear roles, prioritized backlogs, visible work, iterative planning, regular stakeholder feedback and continuous improvement. Scrum was used where work benefited from a sprint cadence; Kanban fit teams managing continuous operational demand.

Coaching through live delivery. Our coaches worked directly with teams as the model moved from training into execution. Early iterations established team structures, clarified responsibilities, configured Jira, prepared backlogs and defined how work would enter and move through each team. Coaching continued through live delivery, so teams learned the model on real healthcare work rather than classroom examples. The approach deliberately combined people, process, technology and coaching.

The result

The Fusion Delivery Model gave the organization a repeatable way to bring business, operations and technology together as one delivery team. More importantly, the engagement demonstrated that Agile could work beyond IT. By adapting the practices to the realities of healthcare operations, the organization built a foundation for extending Agile ways of working into additional operational areas. It was not Agile for the sake of Agile. It was a delivery model designed around the way healthcare work actually gets done.

What the organization gained

• A delivery model targeting 30% faster delivery across operational teams
• Cross-functional Fusion teams with five defined roles, replacing functional handoffs
• Clearer roles, more visible priorities and structured backlogs for operational and Revenue Cycle teams
• A consistent cadence for planning, delivery, review and improvement
• Leadership transparency into what teams were working on, where work was constrained and where decisions or support were needed
• Scrum where a sprint cadence fit the work, Kanban where operational demand was continuous
• A foundation for expanding Agile ways of working into additional operational areas