Introduction
Modern technologies have the potential to transform medical procedures and nursing practices to maximize patients’ experiences. These innovations can guide practitioners to guide and provide timely information to more people within a short time. Emerging medical systems and inventions are overcoming most of the challenges associated with the current problems of workforce shortage and overwhelmed healthcare systems. The introduction of smartphone apps in a given unit or facility is a revolutionary idea that can improve the medical outcomes of the greatest number of patients. This idea forms the basis of this change project for improving healthcare practice.
Proposed Change
The change project topic for this analysis is that of implementing smartphone-based apps in a given facility. Several reasons explain why such a transition is essential and capable of addressing some of the existing problems. First, the challenge of workforce shortage is making it impossible for the available health professionals to meet the demands of all patients. Second, many medical institutions are implementing emerging technologies as an evidence-based approach to transform patients’ experiences (Murray, 2019). Third, medication errors fall, and provision of wrong self-care information have prevailed in different healthcare settings. These gaps explain why a new approach is capable of changing the situation and supporting the delivery of high-quality medical services.
The intended project seeks to benefit both internal and external stakeholders. The internal ones include patients, clinicians, caregivers, and nurse aids. The identified beneficiaries will find the new change relevant since it will minimize the time taken to provide adequate information to patients. Such professionals will complete their responsibilities in a timely manner and solve emerging predicaments. Additionally, these professionals will share their ideas and experiences continuously, thereby maximizing the quality of care and support available to their respective patients (Calinici, 2017). These beneficiaries will also find it easier to receive information from the carers in time. Such a practice can improve the quality of personalized services available in the facility. External stakeholders will include government agencies in healthcare, policymakers, and members of the community. More citizens will find it easier to receive high-quality services from the identified medical institution. Policymakers and government agencies will achieve their goals much faster due to the available medical services.
SMART Goals
The success of the proposed project depends on the project implementation team leader’s ability to set the right goals and pursue them efficiently. The targeted objectives need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) if positive results are to be recorded (Harris, 2016). The formulated goals for this change project are presented below.
- Sensitize all internal stakeholders about the current gaps affecting the quality of medical support available to more patients
- Educate both internal and external stakeholders about the role of smartphone apps in the health care industry
- Guide more nurses, professionals, and technicians to set the right environment and conditions for introducing such apps
- Implement the use of the proposed apps within a period of 2 months
- Support the use of such technologies to transform healthcare delivery in the facility
- Address emerging challenges and create the best avenues for overcoming them
- Make the introduced change part of the organization to maximize the quality of medical services available to all patients.
The outlined SMART goals resonate with the unique attributes and objectives of the suggested change model and how it can revolutionize the experiences of the greatest number of patients and workers. The leader will have to acquire the right resources and support the training of all practitioners and patients. Such an initiative will prepare them for this new technology and eventually ensure that positive health results are recorded (Campbell, 2017). The support of all key stakeholders would be essential to sustain the change, solve emerging challenges, and encourage all participants to be part of the process.
Developing a Change Project
Change theories are essential since they provide detailed platforms for identifying existing obstacles and introducing additional procedures to improve the targeted results. The nature of the intended project explains why Kurt Lewin’s theory is capable of delivering positive results (Cummings, Bridgman, & Brown, 2016). The model is comprehensive and capable of minimizing chances of rejection and opposition. It creates room for allowing all possible partners and stakeholders to be involved and eventually deliver positive results. The leaders and supervisors involved throughout the change process will redesign the model in accordance with the identified expectations and eventually meet patients’ demands.
This theory presents three unique principles that change managers need to take into consideration. The first one is the unfreeze phase whereby stakeholders get a new opportunity to learn more about the challenges affecting the level of performance and service delivery. The change leader will rely on this attribute to educate more practitioners and patients about the disparities and ineffectiveness in care delivery (Miles & Scott, 2019). Such an approach will guide all key participants to embrace any additional transformation that can revolutionize operations and improve their experiences. The next principle is that of introducing the change in different units. During this phase, the agents will consider the most appropriate smartphone apps that nurses and clinicians can use to educate, mentor, and guide their respective patients. These technological ideas will reduce cases of medication errors and streamline the level of communication (Miles & Scott, 2019). The final principle is that of refreezing and it focuses on the best approaches to resolve emerging issues and making the introduced change part of the medical organization.
Communication Tool
Communication remains critical throughout the change implementation process. Those in leadership should design the best tools depending on the nature of the proposed transformation, anticipated goals, and attributes of the involved stakeholders (Reed, 2017). The key communication attributes for this change are described below.
- Communication Needs: Ensure all activities are completed in a timely manner, inform participants about their unique roles and objectives, minimize disagreements and misunderstandings (see Figure 1).
- Purpose: Ensure that team members identify and complete every phase within the stipulated period (Bucciarelli, 2015).
- Methods: Phone calls, short text messages, face-to-face, discussion boards, meetings, and e-mails
- Owner: the communication leader will oversee all communication practices and processes
- Audience: Members of the implementation team depending on the formulated message
Figure 1: Communication plan
Financial Considerations
The intended change has the potential to transform the financial performance of the selected facility and eventually make it a leading provider of high-quality medical services. First, the institution can allow patients to use their smartphones since they have become common today. Similarly, all practitioners and caregivers will use their devices to support the intended initiative. These approaches mean that the hospital will not incur additional expenses in this area while trying to introduce the proposed technology. Second, the organization will only have to install a stable Internet source that needs to be free of change, such as Wi-Fi. This effort will make it easier for all stakeholders to rely on their smartphones to access the introduced apps for healthcare benefits (Hassmiller & Reinhard, 2015). Third, the institution will hire new technicians to educate more individuals about this new technology and its ability to improve communication and reduce errors throughout the care delivery and coordination processes.
The nature of these developments reveals that the institution has the potential to record several benefits. The first one is that it will not incur numerous expenses since the available infrastructure and model is capable of supporting the targeted change. The facility will channel the available resources elsewhere to maximize care delivery. The second potential benefit is that more patients will receive high-quality support and consider the need to encourage other people to seek high-quality services from the facility. The hospital will eventually attract more patients and become profitable after the successful implementation of the change (Reed, 2017). The third advantage is that the recorded sentinel events and poor patient outcomes will no longer be a problem. These issues explain why all stakeholders need to remain supportive until positive gains are recorded.
However, there are specific limitations that may disorient the effectiveness of this project. For example, some of the targeted elderly patients might be unaware of the power of smartphones. This gap might affect the appropriateness of the change and the targeted results. Another issue to consider is that many individuals who lack smartphones might not benefit from this change. Such issues mean that the facility will have to incur additional expenses to purchase such devices for them and ensure that positive health outcomes are recorded (Hassmiller & Reinhard, 2015). The need to train more technicians and professionals and equip them with adequate resources might eventually affect the sustainability and effectiveness of the intended project. The consideration of these issues would be critical to deliver positive outcomes and eventually transform the experiences of more patients.
Figure 2: Proposed budget
The project manager will need to consider the estimated costs for introducing the targeted change to make sure that it delivers tangible results. The team members can apply the available resources to keep such expenses as low as possible. Such a practice is capable of minimizing the potential barriers and eventually making the targeted healthcare facility a leading provider of high-quality, personalized, and sustainable medical services (Reed, 2017). The outlined budget of 13,000 US dollars indicates that the change is implementable without the need to incur additional expenses (see Figure 2). Consequently, more patients will eventually receive high-quality, personalized, and timely health support.
Ethical Considerations
The proposed change has the potential to improve the experiences of more people in the targeted community. All the involved participants will consider the most appropriate strategies to introduce the intended smartphone apps depending on the unique health needs of the patients. However, there are certain ethical issues that might emerge and eventually affect the integrity of the existing healthcare delivery system (Utkualp, 2015). The first one is that such apps might result in the loss of personal information. This outcome is possible since the technology relies on the Internet to share and transmit messages. Consequently, hackers or unauthorized users might access the acquired information for personal gains. This ethical issue explains why many institutions have remained reluctant to consider this form of innovation.
The second potential moral concern that might emerge is that of knowledge. Every healthcare delivery process needs to be simple and culturally competent if it is to meet the demands and expectations of all patients without any form of discrimination. The idea to present apps in the process means that some elderly and young patients might become underserved. This outcome is possible since they are unable to apply the introduced technology to maximize their experiences. Medical professionals might be unable to offer the relevant guidance and support to such individuals (Utkualp, 2015). The third ethical dilemma that can emerge from this technological change is the issue of patient autonomy. Individuals need to make their own decisions and acquire medical support in an environment whereby informed consent is taken seriously. Smartphone-based apps can undermine such a principle since personal data might be available to more clinicians who have to make their unique decisions without considering the rights and liberties of such patients (Zubović, 2018). The identified individuals might also find it hard to receive personalized medical services.
These three issues are worth considering if the leaders and team members are to implement the intended change process successfully. First, the participants will have to consult widely and discuss with different technicians in order to find new ways for improving the security of patient information and data. This critical requirement would mean that the project might take longer to be implemented. Second, the institution will consider the need to train more young people and the elderly to address the second concern identified above (Utkualp, 2015). When all stakeholders are involved, it will be possible to deliver positive results and ensure that all patients record positive health outcomes.
The issue of autonomy is critical since the participants will have to apply the best approaches to focus on the wellbeing of their patients. The level of coordination throughout the implementation process and after the successful introduction of the change will be essential (Zubović, 2018). Continuous monitoring will remain critical to support the resolution of all emerging challenges in a timely manner. Without these issues, the relevant team would have introduced and implemented the change successfully in a short period. The facility’s managers will have to consider the outlined ethical issues, involve all key stakeholders, and address emerging challenges using the available information. These best practices will minimize chances of failure and eventually support the emerging demands of more individuals in need of high-quality medical services.
Assessment Tool
The implementation of a new change in the targeted medical facility will ensure that more people in the community receive personalized and high-quality services. The clinicians, physicians, and practitioners will find the project meaningful since it will maximize their operations and support the delivery of positive results. However, not all change processes deliver the outlined objectives. Some challenges and obstacles will emerge and affect the integrity of the entire process (Okafor, Ugwu, & Okon, 2018). Consequently, the involved participants or stakeholders will be unable to achieve their maximum potential. The use of an effective assessment tool remains vital to analyze the existing gains and how they support and empower the major stakeholders. The document presented below will guide the team members and project members to monitor the deliverables and gains from the introduced smartphone-based apps.
Figure 3: An assessment tool
The presented assessment tool is essential since it will guide all team members to examine what has worked and what has not throughout the implementation process. These stakeholders will consider some of the gains the new technologies have presented in the facility. They will outline evidence-based practices that have the potential to improve the level of performance and ensure that more patients receive timely and high-quality medical services. The identified gaps and drawbacks will guide all participants to consider new ways of improving the process, solving challenges, and streamlining operations (Yang, Poly, & Li, 2019). All stakeholders will also be part of the assessment plan since would have impacted them either directly or indirectly (see Figure 3). The project manager will be in a position to offer the relevant suggestions to the institution in order to consider new ways for expanding the project and ensuring that more patients record positive health outcomes.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it is evident that a change model aimed at introducing new technology can transform the experiences of both patients and caregivers. The involvement of all key stakeholders can become an evidence-based approach to understand the major gaps in medical practice and propose additional initiatives to meet the health demands of more patients. The use of a powerful change model can support the entire process and revolutionize the quality of services and care available to more patients.
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