Change Management Plan for Palms West Hospital (PWH)
The Palms West Hospital (PWH) plans to implement a change to the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Implementation of this change will require leadership to examine barriers to implementation of the system including overcoming resistance to change among personnel. The hospital is a major employer in surrounding areas. Implementation of EMR will allow the hospital to transfer medical records quickly and easily among facilities within the organization and to outside facilities that request them.
EMR represents state of the art in patient medical record keeping. EMR is gaining in popularity and old paper systems are quickly becoming outdated. The main reason for EMR's success is that it improves quality, tracking ability, and most importantly, patient safety due to the speed with which staff can access the patient's medical records and history. This time savings can result in better survival rates and outcomes in patients that are critically ill. The EMR system is a necessary change in technology that will allow the hospital to serve their patients using the most current technology available.
The technological aspects of the change are manageable in terms of upgrading current systems to meet the specifications needed for the software and system. Implementation of the system will require hospital staff to make many changes to their work environment. Staff will have to be trained on how to use the system and rules that govern medical record transfers and security issues surrounding patient medical records. Many of these procedures and policies will be alien and different from what they are used to under the old paper system.
The transition may be difficult for some employees, particularly those that have been with the hospital a number of years. The old system represented a culture and set of behaviors within the hospital system. It represents routine, but represents outdated methods in terms of technology. Spector stated, "A dynamic competitive environment prompts organizational leaders to alter their strategies, that process of strategic renewal place new expectations on employees at all levels " (Spector, 2010). The EMR system represents a change in strategy that will allow the hospital to remain competitive. These changes will affect staff on all levels of the organization.
Change Method
It is expected that the transition from paper medical records to EMR will be difficult within the organization as a whole. The change will be made easier if staff is on board with the change and willing to take a positive attitude on the outcome of the change on the hospital. The EMR represents a complete change in the hospital system and the way patient records are managed. It will require a complete replacement of the old record keeping system, with very few components and familiar methods left in place. Because the transition acquires a dramatic shift in the old ways of doing things, Lewin's Freeze Phases was chosen as the change methodology.
Lewin (1947) stated that groups gravitate toward a state of constancy and resistance to change, provided that their environment does not change. An absence of environmental changes means that staff will tend to remain stable and constant in their behavioral patterns. In the case of the hospital, many aspects of the hospital environment will remain the same. The building will be the same, the cafeteria will be the same, the patient rooms and nursing procedures will be the same, and many other aspects will represent a familiar environment. Only one element of the hospital environment will change, but this element will permeate every area of the system. When one takes the daily work environment at the hospital into account, it could appear from the workers' perspective that the only change will be the record keeping system. This will promote resistance to patterns that represent change within the familiar environment.
Lewin's Three Phases Change theory is designed for organizations that must change a significant aspect of the employees daily work environment. Lewin's Three Phases are unfreeze, transition, and freeze. Unfreeze refers to reducing forces that strive to maintain the status quo. It refers to dismantling the mindset surrounding the old system. People must realize that they need to change in order to unfreeze old habits. The unfreeze portion of the EMR project will be drastic. After a certain date, the old system will no longer be available.
The transition period is a process for developing new behaviors and attitudes throughout the organization. Lewin has several developmental techniques to achieve the transition more easily. The staff will undergo training on the new system as...
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