29 Apr Change Leader: How to manage change in your clinic
2019 will bring great opportunity for clinics focused equally on best in class productivity and client experience.
The growing accessibility of data allows healthcare professionals to improve productivity and create more personalised and positive experiences for patients; however, the changing healthcare landscape also poses several challenges.
For healthcare leaders, advocating change, the practice of change management is crucial for staying ahead of the curve.
We discuss the steps you can take to effect permanent change within your organisation.
TAKE A HANDS-ON APPROACH
Invest yours, and your practice manger’s time into the following areas because they will help set your practice up for long-term success:
1. AUDIT YOUR PROCESSES
Having solid processes in place will ensure your team is a well-oiled machine, even during times of change.
This applies not only to technical, financial and patient procedures but also to the communication processes within your team.
Having agreed protocols for communication and conflict resolution will help foster trust and respect within your organisation.
2. REVIEW STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES
To ensure your team operates as effectively as possible, the roles of employees must be negotiated and defined. Ensure the skill-set and seniority mix is balanced across all areas of your organisation.
A good supervisor will model the team process around the critical characteristics of the individual team members.
In many cases, there will be overlapping abilities, so it’s crucial to ensure each team member is aware of their role and responsibilities.
The annual performance review is paramount to evaluate staff responsibilities and performance. However, it is also important to hold regular planned conversations throughout the year, especially during periods of transition.
3. IDENTIFY INEFFICIENCIES EARLY
Healthcare leaders have a responsibility to identify high-risk areas within their clinic as soon as possible.
Always be on the lookout for protocols, financial allocations or employee issues that may hinder the efficiency of your organisation.
Through early intervention, these issues can be dealt with before they develop into more significant problems.
ESTABLISH CLEAR, ORGANISATIONAL GOALS
Rather than dictating decisions during periods of change, effective leadership means uniting your organisation around shared goals.
Keeping employees motivated will ensure everyone within the organisation is on the same page.
With the empowerment of the front-line team, the organisation’s goals, which should be included in the team’s vision, become clear.
Thus, they share and support the goals of the organisation and have input into how these goals can be accomplished and implemented.
The result is total organisation-wide acceptable of high-quality, safe, empathetic, cost-effective care to patients.
While goals will vary from organisation to organisation, they should generally focus on value-based, rather than volume-based care.
That is, ensuring the highest level of care for a realistic number of patients, rather than trying to get as many patients through the door as possible.
This patient-centric model will help future-proof your organisation and drives profitable and sustainable processes that support repeat patients and referrals.
CREATE A DIALOGUE WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS — ESPECIALLY DOCTORS
When undergoing periods of significant change, it’s normal to encounter resistance and scepticism from your team.
Your key stakeholders will want to know how the changes will affect them – will their workload increase?
Does change equate to more pressure on their performance?
The earlier you engage your team, the more effectively you’ll be able to demonstrate how strategic changes will benefit them and simplify their day.
Creating an honest and open dialogue with key stakeholders is the first step.
Furthermore, establishing feedback processes across the organisation will ensure your finger stays on the pulse – you may even discover advocates among your colleagues who will help you to champion change.
LEVERAGE THE TECHNOLOGY AND DATA AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Thanks to the growing popularity of cloud-based practice management platforms, there is a constant influx of information – data can turn into action.
These insights must be leveraged when managing change within your organisation by drawing on sound clinical and patient data to make critical decisions and establish persuasive business cases to stakeholders.
You can incorporate data from the following areas:
- Costs associated with providing specific treatments
- The rate of positive patient outcomes
- The time required to onboard new patients
- Information about how and when patients prefer to be seen
Focus on how proactive change will save time, money and resources for your team, ultimately leading to more positive outcomes, then, let the numbers do the talking.
Having a robust practice management system in place is essential for leveraging this data when making informed decisions.