Helping Employees Adapt to Change at Texas Children’s Hospital by Stephanie Elam and Tammy Christensen, Texas Children’s Hospital

Case Study – Impact Of Effective Change Management

Helping Employees Adapt to Change at Texas Children’s Hospital
by Stephanie Elam and Tammy Christensen, Texas Children’s Hospital

Introduction

In 2006, Texas Children’s began an aggressive $1.5 billion expansion project. The expansion includes the erection of four new buildings, and the addition of new service lines and programs, leading to a large increase in employee resources. By 2010, the organization is expected to grow from 6,600 to 9,000 employees and to increase medical staff by 70. Simultaneously, the organization is transitioning from a paper to an electronic medical record system. This expansion initiative is considered to be the largest ever in the United States to be completed within a four-year window.

 

Project Background

Texas Children’s has begun the implementation of an electronic medical record system that will provide immediate access to patient records and information across the organization, thus promoting improved patient care and patient safety while streamlining efficiencies. The electronic medical record will facilitate instant communication between the primary care and specialty services while also allowing on-going access to patient information for research purposes. The first phase of the project was deployed in two major business units in the organization, impacting approximately 6,000 employees or 85% of the workforce.

 

Change Management Overview

To assist with the “people side” of change associated with the system implementation, a change management team was created. Throughout the project, the change management team partnered with the project implementation team and organizational leaders to facilitate activities designed to reduce employee resistance and build commitment for the implementation. Two notable activities included creating a Change Agent Network and conducting dress rehearsal activities.

Local leaders selected individuals to make up a Change Agent Network. The network was comprised of participants from throughout the organization who served as extensions of the change management team as “on-the-ground” peer champions. The change management team provided Network members with ongoing information, reminders, and tips which they shared with their peers. Periodic meetings and conference calls allowed change agents to connect with each other and exchange ideas about how to build commitment, as well as keep the change management team informed about issues and major areas of resistance that required attention.

In addition to the Change Agent Network, the change management team developed dress rehearsal activities to help prepare end users for the implementation. The activities were set up as real-life simulations and provided an opportunity for end users to walk-though and practice system and process changes prior to implementation. The dress rehearsals were intended to help end users understand what to expect at Go-live and minimize anxiety. Additionally, the activities helped identify any potential “hiccups” that might not otherwise have been identified until the system went live, including incorrect end user security settings. Being proactive prior to Go-li