How can you create a sense of urgency for change in your healthcare practice?

Driving change in healthcare starts by identifying the gap between current practices and desired outcomes. Tools like surveys, data analysis, and stakeholder feedback are vital. Considering the influence of external factors, such as regulatory shifts or technological advances, is also essential. Drawing from "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter, "establishing a sense of urgency" is the foundational step to pivot from maintaining the status quo to fostering collaboration. My experience at the White House Medical Unit during the onset of COVID-19 demonstrated this fact. We had to swiftly shift from "business as usual" to adapt roles and processes, finding that such pressing moments can profoundly amplify collaboration, motivation, and purpose.

I strongly believe the urge of need of change must arise from the inner heart and most crucially is the great passion to make improvement. Besides the above, a case study or root cause analysis usually drives a stronger desire as it is well tailored to the actual scenario and the current team.

Creating a sense of urgency, articulating the gap between where one is and where one needs to be, and quantifying the opportunity are all essential aspects of identifying a need for change. In my experience, another key imperative is establishing the will to make the change through adaptive leadership is a critical component to identifying a need for change. Ensuring the people and leaders are willing to make a change is a critical component to establishing the commitment and need to the change

Creating a sense of urgency in health care practices can be achieved by highlighting the potential consequences of inaction, such as increased patient harm or worsening health outcomes. Additionally, incorporating data and statistics that demonstrate the urgency of the situation can help mobilize stakeholders and drive the necessary changes in health care practices.

Creating a sense of urgency for change in a healthcare practice involves clear communication of the need for change, emphasizing the potential positive outcomes and consequences of inaction, and engaging stakeholders at all levels of the organization. Implementing visible, short-term wins and sharing success stories can reinforce the urgency. Also, involving staff in the change process, providing resources and training, and continually monitoring progress and adjusting strategies can help maintain a sense of urgency and drive sustainable change.

Communicate the vision and goals in healthcare by clearly articulating the purpose, benefits, and expected outcomes to the team, using effective storytelling, visual aids, and regular updates to ensure alignment and motivation among the staff.

Resistance to change often stems from team members feeling like their opinion isn’t valued. Involving them in the development and execution of a change is key to acceptance. In healthcare, quality improvement is something that is done to them, not for them. Teams need to fully understand what is in it for them and what the bigger picture is.

The best practice of the change process adoption is to take the other side of the problem. if you create the same context for the two scenarios of the problem( before and after) you will be amazed by the results at hand. and this requires an interdisciplinary approach with regard to the realized and unrealized context of the change.

Raise awareness in the community about the issues and the benefits of change to garner public support, putting pressure on healthcare providers. Promote transparency regarding the current state of healthcare practices, allowing everyone to see the areas that require improvement. Compare your healthcare practice's performance with benchmarks or industry standards, illustrating the need to catch up or surpass competitors. Align change with quality improvement initiatives, emphasizing the importance of enhancing patient care. Show how implementing change can lead to cost savings or increased revenue, creating a financial incentive for urgency.

One thing I have found very useful is to Ignite the Passion in People... 1-Create a Compelling Vision- so compelling, people will keep remembering.... 2-Build on that Momentum- innovate and do unusual activities which captures your team by surprise... 3-Experience Results- celebrate wins together...Highly motivated team brings success Igniting Passion is every leaders' privilege...an opportunity to co-create success together...

The first step should be: Ask. For Help. The most important thing a healthcare leader can do before any change is made (or even suggested) is to ask for help. Opening a conversation with a question is always better than opening a conversation with a directive. Asking the team what their thoughts are on what needs to be changed & what they think the direction or mission should be > all other initiatives. A leader who is not scared to be vulnerable, but rather places importance on the collective is the leader who wins. Without the team involvement and team voice, a leader is powerless & will likely not be nearly as effective. What are the team's values? What are appropriate metrics that we should be measured on? Why do we care? Ask.

Changes have to be from the top down. I have found that in the multidisciplinary world of healthcare, change has to start at the level of management. You have to live the changes that you preach. There would be less resistance to change if the managers are already practicing it. Your team will respond better to a change that you have shown to be doable.

Involving and empowering your healthcare team can be achieved by fostering open communication, soliciting their input in decision-making, and providing opportunities for skill development and leadership roles, ultimately promoting a collaborative and motivated work environment.

Involve key stakeholders, including clinicians, administrators, and patients, in discussions and decisions about change, making them feel invested in the process. Launch small-scale pilot programs involving the team, to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of change before implementing it across the entire healthcare system

Change management in healthcare organizations is often considered a "scary" topic, but with the right internal champions and a transparent plan, is very manageable. Creating clear internal project stakeholders, identifying gaps in the go-forward plan vs current state, and willingness to take feedback along the way are critical. But even more critical to just empowering internal champions is making sure you're properly rewarding them for leading and inspiring change in your organization.

Pull in your outliers here. Partner them with somebody who can help them embrace change. It’s harder to resist change when they own a part of its success. You never know who your up-and-coming champions are, and if you can win over the biggest naysayers, you’ll have sustainable success and engagement.

To enable these coalition champions to effectively advocate for change, give them the necessary resources, training, and support. This may include educational materials, workshops, or training sessions to deepen their understanding and expertise on the change initiative. Recognize their efforts and contributions publicly and give opportunities for them to share their experiences and successes with the wider team. When you provide tools and recognition, you empower them to confidently champion the change and help to inspire others to embrace it.

Change is scary in: Identify the gap or need for change. Involve the team in creating awareness and urgency to roll out the project Give pep talks for less than 15 minutes then issue tokens to listeners. Give feedback on the implications of present situations.

A coalition of champions needs to extend beyond project managers, lean management 6 sigma consultants, and marketing teams to 'drive' change. So often, these individuals are so far removed from the actual provision of healthcare that their cheerleading for change does little to sway hearts and minds. Leading with initiatives that genuinely value human life, ie patients and clinicians, is the first step. From there, insuring that there is meaningful input from physicians (who are engaged in patient care), other clinical staff, and community advocates in decision making is key. Trying to create a team of champions excludes the people closest to the provision of services will not serve the healthcare industry well in the long run.

When presenting a vision and goals, it's essential to support them with credible evidence to establish their feasibility and importance. This lends weight to your proposals and makes them more compelling to stakeholders. Additionally, outlining the potential repercussions of not implementing the change, also backed by evidence, can highlight the urgency and necessity of the action plan. Providing a clear picture of the benefits that the change will bring can further help stakeholders understand its value. This could include improved efficiency, cost savings, or enhanced customer satisfaction, among other outcomes.

In my role as the head of a multidisciplinary team in an outpatient psychiatry clinic, we faced resistance to adopting telehealth services, especially among our long-standing patients. To overcome this, we initiated a series of educational workshops, inviting patients and their families to participate. One particularly touching story involved a patient with severe social anxiety who initially resisted telehealth. After trying it out, she discovered a newfound comfort in attending sessions from the safety of her home. She not only continued her therapy but also became an advocate for telehealth among our patients. As they say, "Change is the only constant."

One simple thing that is commonly overlooked is explaining the “why?” If more people understood why a change needs to occur or why they need to comply with a policy/procedure, they would be more open to change and more compliant. Explaining the potential consequences using real examples can also help drive home the points.

To create a sense of urgency for change in healthcare practice, highlight real-world consequences of inaction and emphasize evidence-based solutions with measurable outcomes.

Urgency is best addressed with policy changes, improved governance structures, "showing the data" of what successes and failures are defined as, and inclusion of those "at the top." Without funding and leaderships' support, as with any emergency situation, the chaos will continue, only for those "on the ground" to not benefit from. As a collective, it is important for any health organization to ethically and soundly align with best practices, international standards, local/state/federal/national laws, and to have a proper change management process in-place.

I think in order to embrace technology and adapt our system to them 1- collaborations with specific market partners such as ( Bell, Amazon, Uber, Salesforce , social services , non- profits volunteers in various communities). 2- Training for staff , caregivers using digital virtual technology, privacy of patients data, data collection, database security 3- Work on upgrading especially Senior homes to be ready and connected to health networks system