Change happens all the time in healthcare. Whether due to new policies, technology, or patient needs, healthcare groups have to keep adjusting. Still, research shows that almost two-thirds of change projects in healthcare do not succeed. This often happens because of poor planning, staff not motivated, bad communication, or unorganized changes. Medical practices that rely on staff working different shifts, like nights and weekends, find this especially hard.
Everyone in healthcare—from nurses to IT managers and practice owners—has a role in making change work. They need to accept and use new methods. Some change management models, like Lewin’s Theory of Planned Change, Kotter’s 8-Step Model, and Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory, help guide this process. These models say it is important to have a clear plan, involve people who support change, and keep the momentum going.
Setting goals is one of the most important steps when managing change in an organization. Goals help explain why the change is happening and what should come from it. They also give people clear targets to work toward. Ryan R. Bailey, PhD, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine, says that goal setting helps people figure out what exactly they need to change and how to do it. This works for both individuals and whole organizations.
Just setting goals is not enough to make change happen. Many groups or people want to change, but then do not follow through. This is called the “intention-behavior gap.” It happens often in healthcare because organizations do not plan enough for how to carry out goals.
One way to fix this is to use goal setting together with clear action plans. Goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed. Action plans should say exactly when, where, and how the goals will be done. This turns general ideas into real steps for staff to follow.
Research shows that approach goals — goals focused on positive results, like “cut patient wait times by 10%” — work better than avoidance goals, which aim to prevent bad things, like “stop delays in scheduling.” Approach goals also help people feel better and stay motivated.
There is also a difference between performance goals and mastery goals. Performance goals are about measuring results, while mastery goals focus on learning new skills. Using both types together helps people keep trying and solve problems. For healthcare leaders, this means helping staff not just meet targets but also learn new skills needed for change.
Goal setting is important, but managing change needs ongoing work. Change management practices point to two main kinds of actions: ongoing actions and phased actions.
Ongoing actions are tasks done throughout the change process. They include:
Steven ten Have, a professor and consultant on organizational change, says ongoing actions keep organizations involved and able to adjust during change. In medical practices, this might mean regular team meetings, surveys of staff and patients, and clear updates from leaders to all workers.
In healthcare, clear and repeated communication is very important because care is complex, and staff have many different roles. Many change efforts fail because communication stops after the first announcement or because leaders do not deal well with staff resistance. Staff resisting change is the most common reason for failure in change projects.
Ongoing actions give chances to notice and handle this resistance. Another factor is the workplace culture, which can help or block change. Constant communication helps align changes with the culture or slowly shift it, building trust and reducing resistance over time.
Evidence-based change management suggests making decisions using four types of evidence:
Denise M. Rousseau, a key researcher in this area, says using these types of evidence together improves decision quality and raises the chance of success. This is very important in healthcare, where change effectiveness affects patient results.
For medical practice leaders, this means working with clinical staff and IT experts, using data like patient satisfaction scores or wait times, and following best practices from research during both goal setting and ongoing management.
Stakeholders in healthcare include patients, providers, administrators, IT staff, insurers, and regulators. Engaging them well is key for change success. Research shows that mapping stakeholders by their interest and influence helps leaders focus resources properly.
Continuous engagement through clear communication, listening, and working together builds trust and support. For example, involving front-office staff who speak to patients daily when planning phone automation changes (like AI phone systems) can improve acceptance and make the change smoother.
Healthcare leaders are encouraged to use town halls, surveys, and one-on-one talks to get input before and during changes, making sure concerns are heard and ideas included.
Recently, AI and workflow automation have become important tools for healthcare administrators handling change. Simbo AI, a company focusing on front-office phone automation and answering, offers AI solutions that can improve communication and reduce administrative work in medical practices.
Automating routine calls, appointment reminders, and patient questions helps cut staff workload. This lets staff focus more on clinical care and operations. It supports ongoing change by removing problems and inefficiencies that might cause frustration or resistance.
AI can also help set measurable goals and track progress. For example:
This real-time data supports evidence-based change management by offering organizational evidence to help guide adjustments.
AI tools can help engage different stakeholders with easy communication, tailored messages, and ways to give feedback. For example, patients can get automatic notices about scheduling or service changes. Staff receive reminders to join training or report problems.
For IT managers and medical practice owners, using AI front-office automation offers a way to link change plans with organizational goals while helping healthcare workers through the changes. This technology can reduce common causes of change failure like poor communication, low motivation, and burnout.
In summary, managing change in U.S. healthcare, such as in medical practices, needs careful goal setting and continuous efforts during the change. Using evidence-based methods and tools like AI-driven automation helps healthcare leaders support staff, involve stakeholders, and lead changes that improve how the organization works and patient care.
Evidence-based change management is the science-informed practice of managing planned organizational change, emphasizing the use of science-informed practices to enhance the likelihood of success.
The two key principles are: 1) Planned change is more likely to succeed with science-informed practices, and 2) Utilizing four sources of evidence (scientific, organizational, stakeholder, and practitioner experience) enhances change-related decision quality.
There are two sets of science-informed practices: Ongoing Actions (e.g., goal setting, vision communication, feedback/redesign) and Phased Actions, which are timed to specific change phases.
Ongoing Actions are continuous activities throughout the change process that include goal setting, vision communication, and soliciting feedback for redesigning approaches.
Phased Actions are specific interventions that correspond to distinct phases of the change process, such as early diagnosis and late-stage institutionalization.
Stakeholder experience is one of the critical sources of evidence that improves the decision-making quality during planned change initiatives.
Scientific evidence informs practices and decisions in change management, driving more effective and reliable approaches to managing organizational change.
Goal setting is crucial as it provides a clear direction and measurable objectives, often leading to improved motivation and alignment within the organization during the change process.
The authors are Denise M. Rousseau, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Steven ten Have, a professor at VU University Amsterdam and organizational consultant.
By regularly using various forms of evidence, organizations can make better-informed decisions, adapt effectively throughout the change process, and ultimately enhance the success rates of their initiatives.
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