i n terviews
Taming the change In healthcare, we are having to confront our biggest-ever change, which is digitalization. It requires cultural, organizational, and technological shifts. And a transformation in the mindset of all stakeholders in the health ecosystem. How can we lead these changes? I talked to John P. Kotter, a bestselling author, change management thought leader, business entrepreneur and Harvard Professor. Digitalization in healthcare is not just a change from paper to computer. It’s a change in how people work, communicate with each other, cooperate. How can we convince people to support digital transformations in healthcare settings, especially since it usually takes years before the first benefits appear?
It’s always important to recognize that you have to produce some immediate benefits. The benefits do not have to be long-term, global goals. But there has to be something that people can see and
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feel, and relate to in a positive way, not just in a neutral, anxious, or angry way. The more benefits, even small ones, the better. Nobody is going to be convinced by telling them that something is going to happen ten years from now. If the time frame is too long, it can lead to an anxiety or anger mode, or passive resistance. People need facts, need to see that something is moving forward. It’s crucial to show even the smallest benefits: not words, visions, promises, but the real effects. A change only works when it’s sincere. It’s not about PR or
thinking in terms of “let’s see how we can advertise the project to make it happen.” And not even about pushing the changes by saying, “let’s just do it.” Good managers are honest with themselves, the same as with the rest of the team. Let’s analyze a typical case study: after an IT system has been implemented in a hospital, the first problems slowly begin to appear. Doctors get frustrated because they spend more time entering data; the initial enthusiasm slowly fades. What can we do in this case?
It always depends on the context, the relationship with the doctors and the administration, the internal culture. Making generalizations is tricky. One approach that often works, but not always, is something called “radical honesty.” Don’t try to suppress it or to ignore it, or assume that it’s going to go away after a while. Instead, you should say, “we are going through what we have heard from others.” Assuming this can be very painful for some. Spelling out exactly what doctors are feeling, confronting the truth that they are wasting time on paperwork in-
