Change management is an important phenomenon because it helps organizations improve various processes and procedures. For example, if a medical institution is going to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system, change management can help successfully cope with the task. According to Campbell (2020), “change within a health care organization means that individuals must transition from one identity to a new identity when they are involved in a process of change” (p. 50). Thus, when a new EHR system is implemented, employees can oppose the process for different reasons that include misunderstanding, new difficulties, and overload. In this scenario, the medical organization should rely on change management to prove that all the existing barriers are addressed, which is necessary to introduce new technology and start benefiting from a new EHR.
Now, it is reasonable to state that specific steps are needed to ensure that an EHR can be successfully introduced. Firstly, change managers should create basic to-do checklists that are needed to make sure that the implementation process follows a specific plan (Siwicki, 2019). For example, some essential list items include setting up user accounts, importing data from other systems, and enabling online scheduling (Siwicki, 2019). Secondly, studying workflows is essential to improving the implementation process. This recommendation denotes that change managers should perfectly analyze how a new system works and explain this information to employees (Siwicki, 2019). Thirdly, it is necessary to draw attention to a new governance structure (Siwicki, 2019). This statement implies that the EHR system typically brings innovations to organizational culture, which modifies the existing management approaches. That is why change managers should prove that an effective governance system is still at hand. These simple steps can effectively promote change when a new EHR system is introduced.
References
Campbell, R. J. (2020). Change management in health care. The Health Care Manager, 39(2), 50-65.
Siwicki, B. (2019). Implementation best practices: The keys to launching an EHR. Healthcare IT News.