This Discussion highlights the leader's role in facilitating change. You are asked to focus on a change management model that has proven successful in a non-health care sector.

As you saw in Week 2, many best practices in technology have developed outside of health care. The focus of this Discussion is on the innovative application of best practices in stakeholder adoption from other industries in health care settings.

To prepare:

Reflect on positive consumer experiences that you have had related to using information technologies to access products or services.
How did the stakeholders in that setting use HIT platforms to improve your customer experience? Apply this thinking to this week's Discussion.

Scenario:

Long-Term Care

Bethany Place is a 40-bed independent long-term care facility in the Pacific Northwest. They have existed for over 50 years having come from a faith-based background. With good investments and sound financial management, Bethany place has grown and is executing a capital strategic plan. They are expanding their 40-bed facility to purchase a nearby resident facility and expand into rehabilitative care, adding another 30 beds.

They are approximately six months away from receiving the appropriate certificates and regulatory approvals as a rehabilitative care facility for both chronic care patients and recovery of acute head injury.

The rehabilitation facility and renovations to the independent long-term care facility are scheduled to begin in the next six months and be executed over an 18-month period. Currently Bethany place has no electronic medical record. There is a third-party service that is used to scan and send automated claims to Medicare and private insurers.

A local desktop IT services company was recently contracted to provide managed services to Bethany place and provides the website email and local desktop applications for staff. As part of this initiative a robust new IT network design was implemented for both Bethany place and the anticipated rehabilitation facility.

The lack of an electronic health record at Bethany place has created quality issues and risk management issues particularly related to medication reconciliation with patient transfers.

The board and senior leadership have asked the Bethany place management to evaluate information technology options in the form of an electronic medical record, and patient management application(s) for both Bethany place and the rehabilitation extension facility as part of executing the strategic plan.

Post:

Based on the scenario, explain what change management model you would implement for internal and external stakeholders.

What change management theory would you use and how would you apply it through IT implementation?

Outline specific change and innovation management strategies given your scenario, using best practices in the private sector.