Managing Change in Health Care: Assessing, Planning, and Executing Strategies - Essay Sample

Introduction

Managing change is one of the critical concerns in the health care industry. The continuous occurrence of the change needs the expertise to handle the complexity of the operation. Change management is a complicated procedure that involves social and specialized solutions. It is about assessing, planning, and executing strategies. Understanding change and the vital issues that accompany change management is a critical thing that needs to be considered by the executives and managers to achieve a significant level of success. The manager must focus on changing the valuable issues and learn ways to manage change rather than allowing change to lead them to achieve success.

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Key Stakeholders

The 25-physician multispecialty practice acquired by the hospital is a delivery system that will enable the organization to offer quality services and better care to patients at a lower cost. Cost and quality accountability are recognized by the key stakeholders as a framework for the transformation of the health care system (Shanks, 2016). The principal shareholders in this situation are the physicians who own the organization, the change manager, the employed physicians, patients, the clinical staff, and the non-clinical front office staff. Another critical shareholder is the government, in the sense that it is highly interested in the operations of the hospital in ensuring that patients are offered better and quality services. Acquisition of the 25-multispeciality practice in this hospital has resulted in critical stakeholders taking risks and sharing savings, which have led to the formation of relationships that never existed before. The method will also affect the decision-making process in the organization. Patients will have accessible information that will enable them to be in charge of their health care and also have open conversations with their doctors about treatment options.

Barriers for Change

Restraining forces that inhibit change initiatives must be well recognized to have a successful change. Some of the obstacles identified in the implementation of the multispecialty practice include practical barriers that involve lack of personnel and difficulties initiating service delivery, the external environment which is beyond the organization control, and the organization's culture. To prioritize the identified barriers, I would use the 5-point Likert scale that ranges from "very important" to "very low importance." According to the results, the obstacle of the external environment is ranked as the first one, followed by the organizational culture, and the practical barriers were rendered to be of very low importance.

To initiate change, the change manager must have knowledge and expertise in change management. Opinion leaders are one of the critical leverage points for starting the transition. The reason is that they use their influence to inspire and motivate professionals in the health sector to achieve the best available care for patients. The use of a simple reminder system is another leverage point in initiating change (Hayes, 2018). The system is tailored to reflect the best practice to be taken by healthcare professionals. The use of patient-mediated strategies is another leverage point in the sense that it focuses on informing the patients and the general public, which can help in changing the behavior of professionals.

Change Management Strategy

One of the most significant opportunities and challenges is dealing with change in a health care organization. This is because the change affects the organization's stakeholders at all levels. It is, therefore, necessary for leaders and management to oversee the impacts of change to achieve the best for the patients and the organization in general (Gopee & Galloway, 2017). Understanding the organization's culture is essential. This is because to make a successful cultural change, strategy and implementation techniques must be tailored to the specific personalities and lifestyles of the organization. Change management strategy helps in defining change itself and the process of communication necessary for achieving the intended results.

Approaches for Implementing New Team-Based Model of Care Delivery

Change management approaches are essential when implementing change in an organization. This is because, without the models, the success of changes cannot be achieved. As a change manager in this organization, I would propose the use of McKinsey 7-S models and Lewin's change management model in the implementation of the new tea,-bade model of care delivery.

Lewin's Change Management Model

This model is one of the most effective and popular approaches that enable individuals to know the organization and the structured change. It was designed in the 1950s by Kurt Lewin, and it is still valid even today. The model is made up of three primary levels which are: unfreeze, make changes, and refreeze (Tang, 2019). The first level of this model, which is unfreezing, involves making preparations for the difference. At this particular stage, the organization must take the necessary steps and get ready for the difference. It is a significant phase in change implementation because it involves breaking the status quo of the organization culture. The fundamental thing here is to explain the change and the benefits of acquiring multispecialty practice. The second level of this approach is making the changes. Once the organization is fully prepared, the team-based model will be put into action, and the team will be guided as they adapt to the change. As the team manager, I will be regularly communicating with the physicians and the staff to hear the feedback and highlight the potential problems. The last stage of this approach is to refreeze the new state of affairs.

Once the new team-based model of care delivery has been welcomed and implemented, the organization regains its stability. At this stage, the processes of the organization start going back to normal. Regular reviews should be carried out to ensure that change is being followed in helping to achieve better and quality care for patients. The step requires the help of the patients and physicians to make sure that the implemented change leads to the achievement of the objective of meeting the increased demand for health care services.

The McKinsey 7-S Model

The McKinsey 7-S change management approach is relevant where there is a need for change implementation, but the change manager is not sure where to start. It requires analyzing seven aspects of the organization and their relationship with each other to highlight the changes that will create a unified approach to the organization (Ravanfar, 2015). The first step is to assess the change strategy. The strategy should allow the organization to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in the delivering of better health care to patients. The second step is to have a look at the structure of the organization. The hierarchical culture of the organization needs to be simple and well understood to facilitate the smooth flow of information.

The third step is to analyze the systems, and this helps in understanding the accuracy and the results of the operations. The fourth step is to have a record of the shared values of the company and its culture. Organization's culture is an essential tool in managing change since it facilitates easy adoption of the amendment. The fifth step is to give attention to your style which includes the leadership and management style. The sixth step is to list the staff and their job descriptions to ensure that the required positions are filled. The final stage of this model is to assess the skills of the current team and collect the feedback from the patients to have an idea of their thinking concerning the new team-based model of care delivery.

Strengths of the Approaches

Some of the advantages of the McKinsey 7-S model include the ability to highlight the organizational areas that require attention when implementing changes. It reveals the weaknesses of the organization and ensures that every aspect gives support to each other. Lewin's change management model exposes the hidden flaws previously ignored, which makes it a reliable model.

Weaknesses of the Approaches

The use of the McKinsey 7-S approach consumes a lot of time and resources because every aspect of the organization needs to be assessed. Lewin's model is difficult and time-consuming, and the profound changes that occur alienate the employees.

Recommended Approach

The best approach I would recommend in implementing the new team-based model of care delivery is the McKinsey 7-S model (Price & Scowcroft, 2018). The reason is that it gives out a great organization plan that is flexible in case of further changes. Potential problems can be well tackled since all aspects are assessed.

Steps in Implementing the Strategy

The 7S model involves a theory that for an institution to succeed in the quest for meeting its objectives, the entire elements must be interdependent and aligned to provide synergy. Therefore this model is essential in evaluating and analyzing changes in the healthcare facility. The first thing towards the implementation of the strategy is to know the goal that the organization intends to achieve. For instance, in this scenario, the target is the change management following the acquisition of 25 additional physicians (Ravanfar, 2015). Therefore, the facility has to adopt a team-based approach of control that puts the patient on the top or center of the hierarchy. Once the goal is understood, the next stage is to align the work and element to develop synergy. The 7S model will thus assist in analyzing the current situation, the proposed change, and establish the inconsistencies and gaps between them. The last step is to adjust and furnishing the elements to make sure that the organization can run smoothly towards adapting to the change.

In the case of the given healthcare facility, the seven elements, that is, strategy, structure, style, shared values, skills, staff, and systems would be vital in the management of the change. For the strategy, the focus would be, for example, on the facility's significant competencies and putting the consumer first over anything else. On skills, check how the additional skill set will be worthwhile to the hospital in the goal of being patient-centered. Regarding staff, promote team-work and change acceptance, while for shared values, the hospital will create a culture with attributes that positively defines it. Its structure is also subject to change regarding reporting, coordination, and task allocation. The selection of an appropriate leadership is considered to replace the previous model, and finally, systems of the hospice should be streamlined to accommodate the reform.

Approach to Measure the Progress of the Change

Every change in any going concern should be tracked to find out its impact on achieving the set objectives. Therefore, the medical center needs to device a mechanism in which the outcomes of the undertaking are measured. In this context, I choose the approach that entails three steps: Begin with the baseline, track the business results, and obtain internal feedback.

The foundation of any change is, knowing the primary reason for implementing it. Hence, before even considering any reform, it is prudent to get baseline measurements to ensure the results are measured accurately. The expected outcome in the hospital case touches on the structure of management, but the main concern is to put customer first by delivering exemplary services aided by team-work. Therefore, the plan is that each stakeholder plays the assigned role to increase customer satisfaction, for instance, by providing quality services (Hayes, 2018). The change will also change the mode of communica...