the Aspects of Change Management that Directly Affect Elements of the Patient Experience Essential to the Provision of High-Quality and Patient-Centered Care

Enhancing patients’ experiences remains one of the most critical objectives of care provision. It defines the sum of all interactions between patients and caregivers. It encompasses processes integral to healthcare access, such as easy access, timely appointments, clear patient communication, effective technology use, and the caregiver’s attitude toward the patients. On the other hand, change management details the structured approach by caregivers and the healthcare system to transform care operationalizations. Several aspects of change management directly affect patient experiences essential to providing high-quality, patient-centered care.

Aligning to the organizational leadership and providing the change directly affects elements of patients’ experiences. Healthcare leadership plays a vital role in influencing the healthcare change process. Leaders’ role in this regard is to inspire the organizational members about the change process and steer the organization through it. Additionally, as vision carriers for the organization, leaders play a role in communicating the organization’s vision to its members to ensure that they are on board with the change process. This is why the alignment of healthcare leadership to the change process matters. Healthcare providers will work to improve elements of patient experiences when the leader inspires them to do so. They will also implement healthcare changes to improve patient experiences if the organizational leadership creates sufficient buy-in into these change processes. This highlights leadership’s significance in change management directly affecting patient experiences.

Communication is another aspect of change management that directly affects elements of patient experiences. Healthcare communication is integral to collaborative processes in healthcare and the general care provision. Communication directly affects aspects of patient experiences, such as interpersonal interactions between caregivers, their patients, and patients’ families, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of the care provision processes. Breakdown in communication or communication lapses when conveying valuable information on change processes, such as implementing a new framework of operationalizations and healthcare technologies, will considerably affect the efficiency and effectiveness of care provision processes. Thus, healthcare communication must be clear, concise, and transparent to better understand the provision of the change process.

Change impact and the readiness of the healthcare organization for the change process are other aspects of change management that may directly affect patient experiences. Organizational members are more likely to buy into a change process that improves patient experiences if it significantly impacts their framework of operations, clinical outcomes, and patient experiences. Thus, the impact of the change process must be communicated to organizational members to enhance buy-in. Corporate members are also likely to respond to a change process if they are optimally ready for the change process. Corporate leaders are tasked with creating excitement and anticipation for the change process. To attain this, they should proactively communicate the need for the change to organizational members and explain how the change will address the need. This will create a soft landing for the change process. The aspects listed above impact care operationalizations and will impact how caregivers interact with their patients and, consequently, their patients’ experiences.