Assignment: Benchmark Change Initiative
Assignment: Benchmark Change Initiative
Benchmark Change Initiative
Issues in the Area
The organization where the researcher works is a tertiary hospital that provides a wide range of healthcare services to its population. The hospital is well known in the region for the quality of its services and dedication of the healthcare providers in meeting the needs of their patients. Due to this, the hospital has a high number of patients seeking care for different health issues. The high number of patients being seen in the hospital has led to issues with patient throughput in the emergency department. Often, the emergency department is overcrowded, which makes it difficult to achieve the desired efficiency in the provision of care. Patients who need admission to the wards take too long before being moved to the respective units. There have also been numerous complaints from the patients requiring attendance in the emergency department on the delays they experience waiting for to be attended by the physicians and nurses. Based on these experiences, it is critical that the hospital adopts a new system of patient throughput that will enhance efficiency in the provision of services to the patients in the emergency department. The system should minimize the time that patients take before being served in the emergency unit.
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The proposed change to address the issue of overcrowding and delays in the emergency department is the re-designing the hospital’s health systems to integrate patient logistic command center with an automated system for tracking patients. The goal of adopting the system is to increase the timeliness of the essential processes in the department such as patient discharge, turnaround time, transport, and patient placement. The system will also utilize nurse and physician alerts to enhance the efficiency and address the issue of overcrowding in the emergency department.
Outcomes due to the Issues
Overcrowding and delays in the emergency department have significant adverse outcomes to the hospital. Firstly, they lead to diversion of ambulances to other hospitals. Patients who would have been admitted in the hospital are diverted to other hospitals if the emergency department is overcrowded or experiencing patient delays (McKenna et al., 2019). There is also the issue of patient dissatisfaction with the services offered in the hospital. Too much waiting time leads to worse outcomes with a disease and impatience from patients, hence, poor uptake of health services (Morley et al., 2018). Overcrowding and delays in the emergency department also lowers the quality of care offered to the patients. The healthcare providers work in a stressful environment, which hinders their ability to address effectively all the individual needs of the patients. There is also the issue of walkouts from the patients. Patients who wait for a long time end leaving the hospitals to seek the care they need elsewhere (Salway et al., 2017). Therefore, these outcomes affect negatively the performance of the hospital, hence, the need for a change in its processes.
External and Internal Forces, Contributing Issues, and People Affected
Several external and internal factors contribute to overcrowding and delays in the emergency department in the hospital. One of the external forces that contribute to it is the high number of patients that visit the emergency department on a daily basis. As noted above, the hospital is well known for the quality of the services it offers. This makes it the most preferred hospital for the patients, hence, overcrowding (Lindner & Woitok, 2020). The second external force that contributes to the issue is changes in patient dynamics. There has been a significant rise in the number of patients affected by conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The hospital specializes in the provision of care to patients suffering from these conditions. As a result, there is always a high influx of patients seeking specialized treatment in the facility. One of the internal forces contributing to overcrowding and delays in the emergency department in the hospital is ineffective patient monitoring and placement system. The existing system being utilized does not provide the expected performance efficiency in regulating patient flow in the department. The second force contributing to it is the shortage of staffs during situations where there is a high influx of patients. The providers might be overwhelmed, leading to delays and overcrowding. The people that are affected by overcrowding and delays in the emergency department are the healthcare providers and patients. Patients suffer from delays in prompt management of their conditions while providers suffer from working in a highly stressful environment (Rasouli, Esfahani & Farajzadeh, 2019). The consequences of these effects are compromised quality of care, patient and provider dissatisfaction, and high costs of care.
Stakeholders Involved and how they will be affected by the Change Initiative
The implementation of the proposed change will involve stakeholders that include a physician, nurse, pharmacist, medical laboratory, and radio-imaging representative. It will also involve the IT manager, nurse manager of the department and the hospital, quality assurance officer, policymakers of the hospital, and human resources manager. The healthcare providers will benefit from the change initiative through reduced overcrowding, delays, and stress in the emergency department. They will also be able to provide patient-centered care that promotes quality, efficiency, and satisfaction. The IT manager will be expected to engage in the implementation of the new system to enhance efficiency in the department. The nurse manager will be affected through the increased need for the use of safe and efficient systems for care. The human resources manager will have to explore the most effective ways in which the change will promote staff motivation.
Role and Responsibility as a Change Leader
I will play several roles as the change leader in the implementation of the proposed change. The first role will be resource distributor. I will ensure that the existing resources are utilized efficiently for the success of the proposed change. I will also play the role of disturbance handler. I will ensure that conflicts between the different stakeholders are addressed in an effective manner. I will also act as a negotiator. I will ensure that the needs of the different stakeholders are considered in the change assessment and implementation process. I will also act as a source of information. I will provide the team members with the critical information on the things that should be considered for the successful implementation of the change.
Leadership Theory
I will utilize servant leadership theory in implementing the proposed change. The goal of leadership in this type of leadership theory is to serve others. The leader prioritizes the needs of those h/she leads. There is also the aspect of sharing power with those being led in this theory. The leader also prioritizes the needs of those they lead. Through this focus, the role of the leader is to serve those they lead and promote their autonomy (Firestone, 2020). Therefore, the utilization of this leadership theory is expected to promote stakeholder empowerment and the realization of the goals of the proposed change.
Change Agents and their Roles
The change agents that will be needed for the successful implementation of the change will include trainers of the staffs on the use of the system and external provider of the system for use in the hospital. The staffs working in the various departments in the hospital such as emergency department and laboratory department will have to be trained on the use of the new system. They will be trained on optimizing the use of the system to achieve the goals of reducing and managing patient delays and overcrowding. The implementation of the change will also need an external provider of the proposed system. The provider will be expected to train the service providers on the system use. They will also explore the compatibility of the system to the existing health information system being used in the hospital.
Utilization of the Developed Model
The developed model for implementing change consists of several steps that must be considered in the process. The first step in the model is pre-examination stage. This is the stage where the stakeholders undertake needs assessment in the organization to identify issues that should be addressed. The step also focuses on the establishment of strategies that will be adopted for the successful implementation of the change. The strategies include stakeholder training and provision of adequate resources to support the change. The second step in the developed change model is the actual adoption of the change. The stage is characterized by the implementation of strategies to reduce overcrowding and delays in the emergency department. The third step is determination of the outcomes. This stage focuses on the comparison of the actual outcomes received with the set outcomes in the beginning of the change. The outcomes will aid in the determination of additional action plans that should be implemented to facilitate change. The last step in the developed model is maintenance. This stage is characterized by the determination of whether the use of the change should be sustained in the organization or not. The decisions that are made at this stage are largely dependent on the evaluation outcomes of the change.
Potential Barriers and ways of overcoming Them
One of the predicted barriers for the proposed change is the lack of preparedness among the healthcare providers. The lack of preparedness might be attributed to the lack of knowledge and skills on the use of the proposed change in improving efficiency and performance in the emergency department. The barrier will be addressed by training them on the use of the system (Firestone, 2020). The other predicted barrier is systems incompatibility. The proposed system might not be compatible with the existing system being utilized in the hospital. This issue will be addressed through performing a comprehensive analysis of the organization’s system to ensure the most compatible system is adopted.
Evaluation Methods
The proposed change will be evaluated based on whether the goals of reducing and minimizing overcrowding and delays in the emergency department were achieved or not. The data on these outcome measures will be obtained from the system on the average time that patients take from being entered into the hospital database to being seen by the physician, given the required treatment, and discharged from the hospital. It will also utilize the duration that patients take from the point where a decision is made for inpatient admission to the actual admission of the patient to the respective units. A comparison with previous data will be made to determine the effectiveness of the proposed change. A reduction in waiting time by at least 15% will imply a significant improvement in patient throughput process in the emergency department.
Strategies to Anchor Change or Support Continuous Change
Regular feedbacks on the ability of the staffs to maximize the use of the system will be provided. The feedback will provide insights into improvement strategies to be adopted for the overall effectiveness of the system. The change will also be utilized as part of operational protocols in the organization. Doing this will make the change part of the organizational culture and processes. Lastly, leadership and management support will be provided through coaching and mentorship of new staffs on the use of the system.
How it supports the Organizational Mission, Stakeholder Concerns, and Equitable Contribution to the Society
The change supports the mission of the hospital by promoting safety and quality of care. It also supports it through the promotion of cost efficiency in service provision. The system also addresses the concerns of the healthcare providers and patients on overcrowding and delays in the emergency department. The change also promotes equitable contribution to the society by ensuring that the perceived safety, quality, and efficiency of services offered in the hospital are maintained.
References
Firestone, S. (2020). Servant Leadership and Crisis Leadership. In Biblical Principles of Crisis Leadership (pp. 105-117). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Lindner, G., & Woitok, B. K. (2020). Emergency department overcrowding. Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 1-5.
McKenna, P., Heslin, S. M., Viccellio, P., Mallon, W. K., Hernandez, C., & Morley, E. J. (2019). Emergency department and hospital crowding: causes, consequences, and cures. Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine, 6(3), 189.
Morley, C., Unwin, M., Peterson, G. M., Stankovich, J., & Kinsman, L. (2018). Emergency department crowding: A systematic review of causes, consequences and solutions. PloS one, 13(8), e0203316.
Rasouli, H. R., Esfahani, A. A., & Farajzadeh, M. A. (2019). Challenges, consequences, and lessons for way–outs to emergencies at hospitals: a systematic review study. BMC emergency medicine, 19(1), 1-10.
Salway, R. J., Valenzuela, R., Shoenberger, J. M., Mallon, W. K., & Viccellio, A. (2017). Emergency department (ED) overcrowding: evidence-based answers to frequently asked questions. Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes, 28(2), 213-219.
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You will utilize your change model for this assignment. You have my change model you created. Please let me know if I need to attached again? Review the feedback submitted by your instructor on your previous change model assignment. Make any changes or modifications necessary for the submission of this assignment.
Evaluate the performance of your organization or department. Identify an area that would significantly benefit from initiating a change. Write a paper (1,500-1,750 words) in which you describe the particular area you propose to address through a change initiative. Include the following for your company:
Discuss the issues in this area and the current outcomes as a result of the issues.
Describe the external and/or internal driving forces, contributing issues, and the people affected.
Evaluate the stakeholders involved and discuss how they will be affected by your change initiative.
Clarify your role and responsibility as a change leader. Discuss the leadership theory (or theories) you will use to guide the change process.
Discuss the change agents you need to recruit in order to successfully implement your change. Describe the roles of these change agents.
Utilize your change model to develop strategies: (a) Explain the relevance of this model to your organization; and (b) Present the strategic aspects using your model. Be sure to clearly define the purpose of each aspect, the people involved, and the actions that need to be taken.
Identify, or predict, the potential barriers to change. Discuss possible ways to overcome these obstacles, including methods for dealing with emerging or unforeseen circumstances that could impede implementation.
Describe the evaluation methods you will use to determine the level of success of your change initiative. Discuss what metrics or measureable determinates you will use.
Propose strategies to anchor change or support continuous change.
Establish how your change plan supports the organizational mission/goal, genuinely addresses stakeholder concerns, and will serve as an equitable contribution for the community or society overall.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
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