Managing Change within Public Health Informatics Initiatives

Title: Managing change within public health informatics initiatives

Abstract:

Across federal health IT, there are numerous changes that take place within organizations as a direct result of enabling innovative technology tools. From standards-based integrated systems and grid technology to health information exchange and the continued influential rise of social collaboration, one theme is common; change is inevitable.  Success in public health informatics does not solely rely on the availability of innovative technology, but also on the ability of informatics professionals to embrace and adapt to change. Therefore to increase accountability, transparency, and foster engagement in collaboration within any IT or business-related informatics implementation, incorporating change management techniques cannot be ignored. 

Change management provides a framework for managing the people side of transition from current model/state to the desired model/state. Key activities within change management include laying out a change strategy, aligning leadership to champion the change, identifying stakeholder roles, and developing, implementing, and measuring a robust communications plan while providing training that meets organizational development needs for success.  Organizations may at first glance not realize the full potential of a strategic change management plan. It has been proven, however, that change initiatives, regardless of objective, were deemed successful due to the incorporation of change management.   This presentation will provide an overview of what change management is, how it can be beneficial, and provide leading practices that can be applied specifically to public health informatics initiatives. 

The PHIN audience will benefit from this session by obtaining a working knowledge of strategic change management while sharing leading practices.  The NCPHI re-organization will also be profiled as a real case study illustrating strategic change management in action such as their business case for change across the organization, key activities during the reorganization, and highlight key techniques such as the NCPHI change network and communications.