Key Elements That Lead to the Need of Change Management
In this section we will identify five key elements to ensure successful change management in the organization. Breaking out the broader change into smaller and more specific categories, we need to measure change in the goal or immediate task; the team to decide the key members to work to address the changes of specific and differentiated nature; the management rules to chart out the major developments and interventions to be introduced to facilitate the change in the organization; and the future to analyze the future potential changes and the control process in advance Scheid, J., (2011). In order to imply these categories into change management and find an approach we need to see them in the light of broader perspective first.
There has been a significant change going in the health services across the world. The key factors driving the changes are technology advancement, increased expectation of public, legislative reforms and the political environment. Furthermore the ageing population and changes in disease patterns are adding to complexities in the health care service management. A health organization is more than just a business organization which increases its challenges of coping with change and transformation. As Drucker, P., (1993) puts a healthcare organization is the most complex form of human organization. In a health organization there is a convergence of very different variety of professions like physicians, pharmacists, administrators and stakeholders comprised of government bodies and patients etc. The interests of these associated bodies are rarely compatible to one another and they characterized with different perspectives and different times, which means it is not necessary all will influence the organization at the same time or for same span of time.Service Management in Health Care Services
In order to analyze what changes will probably take place in the organization we need to understand that it is constitutes various independent processes, which are called variables. Therefore it is not possible to chart out definite changes that will occur, but it is all about preparing the organization about the anticipated changes. Being a healthcare organization it is important to acknowledge additional challenges which may not be a part of generic management processes. Below are listed the additional variables which are specific to the health organization:
- In congruent stakeholders
- Multiple goals that include, delivering healthcare services to individuals and community, staying profitable and solvent, to grow as a primary employer in the community
- Acknowledging that professionals like doctors and nurses value professional autonomy and their decisions and work influence a major part of organization’s expenditures.
- Lack of information about changes
Golden, B., (2006)
All these four will represent the key changes in the broader term to help measure all the aspects of change that will occur in the complex system. As a first step we will analyze the nearest and possible barriers to change within the organizational framework.
Understanding and analyzing the types of barriers or challenges to changes is very important for developing strategies to establish change management. We should identify the barriers and influences that are operating in the organization and which may relevant to specific problems. Based on this consideration and analysis we can decide on the approach to develop management strategies to address and facilitate the change. The approach will also have to incorporate management practices to project future changes and their possible treatments.
As also mentioned in the four key variables in the health organization and evidences also support the fact that healthcare professionals have lack of knowledge and awareness of the latest developments in the organization and the environment in which it is operating Golden, B., (2006). We may be aware of the latest guidance but we also need to know how current way of our working is different from it and what the ways to adapt it are. This knowledge is crucial to project what changes are going to take place and how adapting to them can enable us providing the best healthcare services to the community in line with the necessary changes and guidance. We also need analyze if the changes can cause some professionals feel that it will undermine their autonomy, or that it cannot be applied to general population, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, (2007).Service Management in Health Care Services
Beyond the internal barriers, we need to consider the external barriers as well. Aspects concerning financial environment and political environment constitute external variables, which can impact the organization as well as the healthcare professionals in terms of motivation, practice and ability to adapt with the changes. We need to analyze whether our financial system will accommodate expenditure for changes and new implications or not. We need to assess the resources to see if they are constrained to hamper the change and its management. Based on these barriers and their analysis we will have to work out incentive regulation and mechanism, which if not in line with the prospective changes will need to be changed.