Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

What makes you an effective change agent in health care?

Ashwini M. Zenooz, MD
Physician
May 11, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

Change and health care are closely interconnected. Health care organizations are continually faced with the need to adapt to change, whether it be advances in medical care or technology, growing demand for care delivery, a patient population that is increasingly active and involved in their own health and well-being, or evolving reimbursement and cost models. By recognizing that change is inevitable in the health care sphere, organizations can focus on achieving effective change management, including the use of change agents, to smooth the way for change and work to ensure positive outcomes.

When an organization goes through a change, major or minor, individuals will typically experience this change in one of two ways: either as change agents or as change targets. While change agents are also targets of the change taking place in their organization, they are identified as individuals who have the skills, traits, and influence necessary to affect change policy and practice throughout the entire change process. Change agents must be able to recognize that organizational (internal) and environmental (external) circumstances will work together to drive the change and make it successful. Change agents must have a high degree of trust and credibility, and it is important for leaders within a health care organization to recognize and establish these change agents as early on in the change process as possible. Building trust is an essential part of the change process in health care.

Effective change agents need to be empowered to ask critical questions at every stage of the change process. While starting with an end goal in mind, change agents also need to stay engaged and informed throughout every step of the change process and be able to articulate information to the change targets. By asking critical questions and keeping change targets engaged, change agents are able to build a strategic framework that can help to produce the desired outcomes. What is the current state within the organization? Why is change needed? Who needs to be involved, not only in the change process, but also in sustaining that change? Does the organization have the necessary resources to make the change happen? By asking questions like these consistently throughout the change process, change agents can ensure that key stakeholders remain informed and involved.

One key aspect of being a change agent in a health care organization is being able to use data effectively since data is a major driving force in health care. Outcomes data, costs data, utilization data; these are just some examples of the types of data that a health care professional encounters on a daily basis. Data is equally important during times of change. Change agents must be able to identify important metrics and accurate data to support the progress being made in order to help the change targets rally around common goals and performance improvements.

Perhaps the most important skill of a change agent is being able to use honest, timely, clear, and stakeholder-friendly information to ensure buy-in and keep rumors at bay throughout the change process. It is natural for people going through a change to want to have as much information as possible — how does this change impact me? What is the change and why is it happening? Who is going to implement the change and how long will it take? Change agents must be able to address these questions and concerns with effective communication, leveraging multiple channels and platforms, and seeking the expertise of both internal and external communications professionals.

Finally, a successful change agent will not only keep change targets on task, but also readily identify milestones and opportunities to celebrate success. By recognizing the importance of milestone moments, large and small, successful change agents will be able to keep the change process moving forward, ensure that key stakeholders remain engaged, and increase the likelihood of achieving a positive outcome.

Ashwini M. Zenooz is a radiologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

When the nurses' work goes unnoticed in the ER

May 11, 2018 Kevin 11
…
Next

Children shouldn't worry about being hungry in school

May 11, 2018 Kevin 6
…

Tagged as: Practice Management, Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
When the nurses' work goes unnoticed in the ER
Next Post >
Children shouldn't worry about being hungry in school

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Ashwini M. Zenooz, MD

  • Blockchain technology can dramatically transform health care delivery

    Ashwini M. Zenooz, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • To fix health care, ask patients to change their understanding of how a health care system should work

    Richard Young, MD
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Health care from the trenches: Change must come from us

    Alejandro Badia, MD
  • Use your voice to change health care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD

More in Physician

  • From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness

    Caitlin J. McCarthy, MD
  • The invisible weight carried by Black female physicians

    Trisza Leann Ray, DO
  • A female doctor’s day: exhaustion, sacrifice, and a single moment of joy

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • The hidden cost of malpractice: Why doctors are losing control

    Howard Smith, MD
  • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

    Neil Baum, MD
  • Rediscovering the soul of medicine in the quiet of a Sunday morning

    Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
    • Why a fourth year will not fix emergency medicine’s real problems

      Anna Heffron, MD, PhD & Polly Wiltz, DO | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Why a fourth year will not fix emergency medicine’s real problems

      Anna Heffron, MD, PhD & Polly Wiltz, DO | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • She wouldn’t move in the womb—then came the rare diagnosis that changed everything

      Amber Robertson | Conditions
    • Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness

      Caitlin J. McCarthy, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 7 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
    • Why a fourth year will not fix emergency medicine’s real problems

      Anna Heffron, MD, PhD & Polly Wiltz, DO | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Why a fourth year will not fix emergency medicine’s real problems

      Anna Heffron, MD, PhD & Polly Wiltz, DO | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • She wouldn’t move in the womb—then came the rare diagnosis that changed everything

      Amber Robertson | Conditions
    • Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness

      Caitlin J. McCarthy, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

What makes you an effective change agent in health care?
7 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...