6 Tips for Successful Change Management With Physicians

At the Becker's Annual CEO Strategy Roundtable, held Nov. 14 in Chicago, William Cors, MD, chief medical officer of East Stroudsburg, Pa.-based Pocono Health System discussed how to address the shift in medical staff models.

 

The old model, according to Dr. Cors, is a collegial, democratic, social contract system in which physician leadership rotates and duties are performed in exchange for privileges. But according to Dr. Cors, that model doesn't work, at least not now that physicians have so many extra duties.

"Medical staff responsibilities for today have exponentially increased," said Dr. Cors, indicating a departure from the old medical staff model is necessary to meet the quality, safety and consumer demands of accountable care and retail medicine.

The first step in moving toward a model of care that can deal with these equally important yet competing demands is to acknowledge the change, said Dr. Cors. He shared a few strategies to smooth the transition between the old medical staff model and any new medical staff model.

1. Look for any of the "five stages." Dr. Cors cites Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' five-stages of grief as a good rule of thumb to understand physician behavior in the transition between the systems. He notes bargaining and anger, in particular, may pose risk to an organization's operational health.

2. Listen constantly. Listening is a prerequisite to communication, especially with discontent people. "Before you expect someone to understand what you say to them, they have to know you understand what they said to you," said Dr. Cors.

3. Investigate bylaws and personnel management strategies. Make sure they contain plans for both all eventualities. Having a procedure already in place saves hours of unnecessary and potentially disruptive discussions. 

4. Manage intent versus impact.  What one hears may be much different from what is being said.  Be sure to understand the nuances of the message to avoid unnecessary tensions.  "Until you get past any elephant in the room, it is impossible to move forward," said Dr. Cors.

5. Understand what is being tried. According to Dr. Cors, part of the job of a leader is to figure out where an institution is headed before it gets there. Focusing exclusively on the past or the present has potentially harmful operational consequences.

6. Plan for the unexpected.  Downstream analysis in advance of all strategic decisions is every hospital's best hope for success. 

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