Week 4

By Rachel Liao:

Change management.  Such an important concept.  I first heard this term in Kurt O'Brien's class last year during our study of organizational effectiveness and high-reliability organizations.  A friend who is Director of Transformation of Care (Performance Improvement) for UWMC also stressed to me that change management skills are critical to success as a leader interested in implementing changes.

In our case study this week, our Moyen Sante CEO Emma had overpromised on implementing a fully functional EHR with 18 months when the original timeline had been 3 years.  The CMIO Sarah was put in a difficult place, as she had comprehensively planned out the way she would approach managing the change with clinicians.  At this point, she had a few options to pursue as her next step.  Our team (as well as most other teams) came to the conclusion that she could: 1. say yes and concede to the new timeline, 2. say no and stand firm on 3 years, 3. compromise and perhaps implement the portions of the EHR that were most acceptable in the eyes of their clinicians by the 18 month mark. They could then slowly implement the rest by their 3 year mark.

I think the biggest pitfall to avoid in change management would be failure to include clinicians and other front line staff in the planning and decision-making steps.  The individuals performing the work and involved with the processes and workflow must be invited to provide input on potential changes that will affect their roles and work.  Failure to maintain transparency during the process of planning for and implementing changes is also another huge pitfall that senior leadership must avoid.  Implementers of change must be transparent about their plans, their timeline, how the change will impact workers, and also be able to relate why the change being made is important.  In healthcare, the importance of a change often is tied back to the goals of providing better care to patients and families, improving population health outcomes, containing costs and/or increasing provider engagement.

I will remember these concepts and apply them when I eventually work in this space.  Relationship building is incredibly important and part of being a good leader is being an advocate for your people.