UHealth: Readiness for the Change

UHealth is one of the most recognized university hospitals in South Miami. It employs more than 1200 scientists and physicians of various specialties who are knowledgeable professionals, led by the board of directors (University of Miami Health System [UMHS], n.d.b). The primary missions of UHealth are to deliver compassionate health care of exceptional quality, do innovative research, educate the new generation of clinicians, and promote well-being and health within the community (UMHS, n.d.a). The hospital’s leaders value equity, inclusivity, and diversity within their organization (UMHS, n.d.a). It is the site of interprofessional collaboration between doctors of over 100 specialties; thus, it is an excellent place to learn and gain experience (UMHS, n.d.b). This company’s employees can enjoy competitive salaries, social benefits packages, and flexible working hours. However, there are some difficulties in communication between workers and managers (Indeed, n.d.). Therefore, the rationale behind the proposed change is creating the Communication Team that will be responsible for supporting, training, and guiding all employees. Since UHealth is a site of innovative research, its leadership and employees appear to be open to evidence-based change to improve the working environment and patient outcomes.

Although it seems that the hospital is ready for change, an organization’s readiness method should assess and quantify its preparedness. The tool implemented in this case is the Change Readiness Assessment Scale, a 20-item questionnaire (Diab et al., 2018). The higher scores of the survey will indicate increased readiness for the change. Since many workers are affected by poor communication with the management, making their employment less pleasant, there is a high possibility that the culture will support and sustain the suggested evidence-based practice change. The major strength of this project is that it creates a dedicated group whose primary aim will be helping clinicians with administrative questions to enable their comfort and success. The disadvantage of the project is that it will require allocation of finances to build the new team; hence, the potential barrier may be the shortage of budget that can delay the change. Still, the hospital’s leaders are interested in generating a supportive environment; therefore, it is in their best interests to start this project soon. Establishing the new team and its functioning will take about two months, but it will demand sponsorship from private sources.

The health system that can be used to improve quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness in the UHealth is a real-time health system (RTHS). It allows hospitals to have organized communication and access to patient data (Kanter, 2021). The effectiveness of this project will increase if RTHS is utilized to have a continuous connection and dialogue (Kanter, 2021). Although UHealth implemented an electronic health records system, the communication between different departments is still not productive, affecting patient well-being. Digitalization of communication should boost the efficiency of the hospital workers by creating an uninterrupted interaction.

An organization’s readiness for change is an essential asset that simplifies the process of introducing a new project. Two critical strategies that can facilitate the hospital’s preparedness will be used at UHealth. The first strategy is that the leadership should systematize and organize employees’ work to regulate their schedules because it was one of the workers’ main concerns (Indeed, n.d.). In fact, according to Øygarden and Mikkelsen (2020), a chaotic environment damages clinicians’ productivity. Thus, before the Communication Team is created, nurses and physicians should have a clear boundary between working and resting hours. Organized shifts will not only make employees more disciplined but will also improve patient outcomes because they will always have a particular number of well-rested healthcare workers within a ward, reducing adverse events and accidents. The second strategy is reducing workload by hiring more staff and recruiting volunteers. Understaffing and duties overload reduce employees’ efficiency and the likelihood of change (Li et al., 2018). These two strategies can enhance the implementation of the new project.

The stakeholders, in this case, will be doctors, nurses, and management. The potential members of the new team for this project should be the five representatives from each of these three groups. They will need to create a list of candidates for the Communication Team, write the guidelines for improving cooperation with each clinician, and conduct the survey and presentation of the project to the hospital.

Information and communication technologies are crucial for the successful introduction of change. The platform that will be used for this project is Vocera, which can integrate about 150 clinical systems, from electronic health records to conference calls (Kanter, 2021). Vocera will simplify communication between the team members and ensure constant interaction between the Communication Team and UHealth’s employees. Moreover, it can help improve care delivery and nursing practice because two-way communication can promptly resolve the emerging issue, preventing workplace dissatisfaction and burnout.

In summary, this evidence-based practice project is aimed to improve communication between management and healthcare workers at UHealth. The new team will provide constant support and guidance to employees about various administrative and personal issues through chat. The hospital’s preparedness for this change will be assessed through a specific organizational readiness tool. If the survey produces high scores, it indicates an increased willingness to introduce modernization. UHealth leadership may need to recruit external resources to fund the new Communication Group that should make clinicians’ work more organized and less overwhelming, increasing the effectiveness of the healthcare team and improving patient outcomes.

References

Diab, G. M., Safan, S. M., & Bakeer, H. M. (2018). Organizational change readiness and managers’ behavior in managing change. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 8(7), 68-77.

Indeed. (n.d.). University of Miami Health Systems employee reviews. Web.

Kanter, B. (2021). Modern communications technology: An essential tool for optimizing hospital operations and improving outcomes. Healthcare Management Forum, 34(5), 248-251. Web.

Li, S. A., Jeffs, L., Barwick, M., & Stevens, B. (2018). Organizational contextual features that influence the implementation of evidence-based practices across healthcare settings: A systematic integrative review. Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 1-19. Web.

Øygarden, O., & Mikkelsen, A. (2020). Readiness for change and good translations. Journal of Change Management, 20(3), 220-246. Web.

University of Miami Health System. (n.d.a). Mission and values. Web.

University of Miami Health System. (n.d.b). Why choose UHealth. Web.