Introduction
Change is a concept that is undertaken by organizations is to improve the productivity of the organization and occurs at any level of the organization. Organizations do not initiate change just for the sake of it, but they do so at the onset of challenges that require them to re-evaluate the way they run their business. The organization puts in place strategies to improve performance. However, this change is not usually easy to implement as it is met with opposing forces in or outside the organization. People are always afraid to venture into the unknown. Members of the organization are sometimes cynical about the success of the change process since they feel this goes against the very backbone of the organization (Lorenzi & Riley, 2003; Grossman& Valiga, 2005).
Expansion of Surgery Centre
With the onset of the recession, our organization’s surgery department was not spared. We faced a decline in patients seen per day. This put pressure on the management of the hospital since there was a decreased inflow of cash. In a turn of these events, the Medical director set out to expand the Surgical Centre, which mainly deals with Plastic and Reconstructive surgery to incorporate Orthopedic Surgeons and Chiropractors. The Medical Director embarked on this undertaking to prevent the layoff of the surgery department’s staff.
Decisions made and their Impact
Impact on patients
With the expansion of the Surgical Department, there was an increase in patient numbers. This was attributed to the inclusion of the Orthopedic Surgeon and Chiropractor unit. The patient number soared such that the time allocated to chiropractor patients was less, usually half an hour to 45 minutes. With time patients started to raise complaints about the little time they were allocated. In the midst of this process, the situation turned chaotic since patients felt the time allocated to them was little and the procedure was so short. This led to a growing reluctance both from the patients and from their referring physicians to have medical clearance.
Impact on Human resource
The expansion of the surgical unit took a toll on the staff. The staff was used to working in a surgical environment with few patients and was usually intimate with their patients. With the expansion of the unit, the staff had to deal with a large number of patients and the place felt like one big factory. Furthermore, the time spent with patients was less and this meant hurrying patients through the specific chiropractic procedures. Since the staff was used to dealing with surgical clientele, the introduction of chiropractic clientele meant led to difficulties in adjustment to fulfill the needs of the new clientele (Lorenzi & Riley, 2000).
Impact on Organizational Culture and perspectives
The expansion of the surgical clinic to include other services especially chiropractic was meant to counter the effects of the recession on the institution as well as the staff. However, it turned out that this change had a negative impact on the organization. In midst of the change process, the re-reimbursement rate changed drastically. The organization’s profits took a nosedive and this brought about imminent layoffs of the staff since little profit was being made from the new venture (Kouzes & Bulker, 2007).
Conclusion
Though the new venture was implemented in good faith, it turned out that the change did not live up to its expectations. For change to succeed the current status quo, needs to be frozen and the members of the organization educated about the need for the change process. Effective and sustained communication should be initiated to ensure smooth implementation of the change process.
References
Grossman, S. & Valiga, T. (2005). The new leadership challenge: Creating the future of nursing. New York, NY: Fa Davis Co.
Kouzes, J. & Bulker, P. (2007). The leadership challenge. California, CA: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Lorenzi, N. &, Riley, R. (2000). Managing change: an overview. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., 7,116-124.
Lorenzi, N. & Riley, R. (2003).Organizational issues=change. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 69,197-203.