The changes ushered in by Obamacare are driving healthcare organizations to undertake new building projects in order to improve levels of patient satisfaction. In order to mitigate the risks associated with any transition into new premises, it is important to engage key stakeholders from the outset.
That is the view of Steve Carter, president of the Carter Group, a transition planning, change management and relocation management firm.
“There is pressure on healthcare systems to increase their performance and improve the patient care experience and I’m sure that is a large driver for the number of building projects that are going on out there,” he said. “Right up front, one great risk mitigator is to put together a good, empowered organization within the healthcare system – a collaborative organization of leadership that is going to really focus on all the issues regarding transition.”
He said that such a group, set up as much as three years before the transition takes place, can carry out a diagnostic assessment of the organization, taking into account the key clinical and non-clinical issues that are likely to be faced as a result of the transition.
“You’d be wise to engage the people who have authority within the healthcare system and make sure that they know that they are being engaged and listened to,” he said. “In any organization, if you don’t have the power brokers engaged then they think that they are being cut out of the process and they become a resistor.”
healthcare leaders, mitigation, Obamacare, Carter Group, healthcare risk management
