Implementing and Sustaining Transformational Change in Health Care

Running head: STRATEGIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 1
Strategic Health Leadership and Management
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STRATEGIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
2
Strategic Health Leadership and Management
Introduction
Establishing and sustaining transformation change in healthcare settings is an intricate
process that involves both people and systems. Before embarking on transformational change,
the health leaders and managers should have a clear picture of what needs to be changed and
how to achieve the change. Over the last few years, health care systems have been implementing
changes with the aim to improve operations and patients outcomes. This paper analyses an article
titled “Implementing and sustaining transformational change in health care: lessons learnt about
clinical process redesign” by McGrath et al. (2008). In this regard, this paper seeks to establish
the intensity and effectiveness of the article’s arguments and conclusions. Also, the paper
discusses certain information that is lacking in the article and the implications of the conclusion
to health leaders and managers.
Central arguments and conclusions
Achieving transformational change in health care is an intricate and costly process.
McGrath et al. (2008) argue that transformational change can be realised by focusing on five
primary elements including leadership excellence, teamwork, stakeholder engagement, client
intimacy, and resource management. In terms of leadership, the chief executive, senior
management and clinical leaders contribute immensely to the change. According to Al-Sawai
(2013), the main facets of leadership role entails influencing group activities as well as coping
with change. Transformational leaders communicate their visions in meaningful and exciting
ways while creating a collective purpose (Al-Sawai, 2013). In McGrath et al. (2008) article, the
leaders drive change by setting goals, budgets, timeframes, and monitoring performance.

STRATEGIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
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In regards to teamwork, McGrath et al. (2008) note that organisational redesign is better
managed through a multidisciplinary team. Recent studies have buttressed the use of
multidisciplinary teams to achieve improved results in health care. Epstein (2014) asserts that
multidisciplinary teams reduce adverse events, improve outcomes and increase patient
satisfaction. Hospital administrators are urged to maintain multidisciplinary teams to ensure that
the facilities performance is not compromised. Furthermore, McGrath et al. (2008) highlight the
engagement of stakeholders as a key factor in transformational change. In this regard, the author
argues that stakeholder’s views we sought during the redesign of the process and their opinions
were tested against the available data. During the continuous improvement, stakeholders are
involved in forums to discuss the process performance. Similarly, Hamilton et al. (2017)
underscore the importance of stakeholder engagement in the implementation of new initiatives.
Their study details how the involvement of stakeholders helped to implement evidence-based
quality improvement program for primary care (Hamilton et al., 2017).
McGrath et al. (2008) suggest that client intimacy is an imperative element in the
implementation of change. During the process redesign, patients were intimately involved. The
patients were considered a critical part of the change team since they contributed many
innovative solutions. Apart from involving the patients in the process, the process should also be
designed to meet their needs. Most importantly, patient participation entails involving the
patients in the decision-making process and allowing them to express opinions about treatment
methods (Vahdat, Hamsehgardeshi, Hessam & Hamsehgardeshi, 2014). Moreover, McGrath et
al. (2008) suggest that the process redesign in health care depends on resource availability. The
management should first identify the resources needed to implement process redesign and
whether they are available in the hospital. Indeed, there should be adequate resources to collect