Planning for Community and Organizational Change

Benefits and Implications 

This plan is meant to assess, establish and implement methods to improve the capacity for both healthcare staff and patients in the application of Telehealth technology in the organization’s health services delivery. Telehealth technology has the capacity to promote access to healthcare and the provision of health services even in the most remote areas (Sebasen et al., 2014). The plan for capacity building for Telehealth technology came up with three major areas. These are: capacity development for workforce. This includes the establishment and provision of skills on how to work using this technology for each area in the health care delivery system. Some of the needs of the health care staff include issues such as identification and management of risks, developing Telehealth technology health care plan etc. 

The increasing use of Telehealth technology is one of the fundamental aspects identified. This is essential in assisting the clients who live far away from the health care centre to receive health care services. This will require a redesign and a change in the capacity building and Telehealth technology equipment. The organization’s workforce capacity, infrastructure, resources and training for telehealth technology were found to be inadequate and require a change and improvement. 

Telehealth technology system has the ability to assist in timely communication. This communication is between the health care providers and the patients. This can be facilitated by the use of video conferencing facilities (Sebasen et al., 2013). In addition, it can enable the proper storage and retrieval of patient information required during assessments by the clinicians. It is also useful in helping the remote monitoring of individuals with chronic ailments. This is made possible through the use of follow up devices and sensors. Currently, Telehealth technology is coming up with gadgets that can be worn or implanted. These gadgets can assess readings of vital parameters in clients/patients. 

Potential barriers to change 

Telehealth is a technology that relies on the level to which it is embraced by those intended to use it. Resistance from the health care personnel to utilizing Telehealth technologies is one of the major barriers to the change. This can be resolved by establishing an efficient change management team (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). This can promote a reduction or prevention of resistance that can come from the intended users of the technology (Barnwell & Bui, 2014). Moreover, it depends on the level at which the organization is prepared for the technology implementation and use. The technology, just like others, passes through a number of steps during implementation and this requires good management. Therefore, lack of proper preparedness of all the systems in the organization can be a major barrier to the implementation of change (Johnston et al., 2016). Moreover, lack of proper and efficient communication between and to the stakeholders can be another barrier to the implementation of the change. This barrier can be dealt with by identifying all the relevant stakeholders, regular stakeholders’ meetings, timely communication to all the stakeholders and considering the interests of all the stakeholders. 

Stakeholder communication 

The stakeholders in the organization include: the management, government, organization staff, patients, community and the funding agencies. All the stakeholders in the organization have a role to play in determining the acceptance and implementation of this change proposal. The above mentioned stakeholders need to understand that the proposed changes will impact the way in which health care is delivered. However, it should be noted that the standards of health care delivery will not be changed because of the changes in the delivery method. Communication between all the stakeholders gives a more systematic and effective model for quality care provision. This can be ensured by developing a stakeholders’ model that includes a list of all the stakeholders, their influence, timely communication and communication channels. 

References 

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: Amodel for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management . 28(2). 234-262 

Barnwell, S. S., & Bui, T. N. (2014). Pulling It All Together: Logistics of Program Implementation.  Behavioral Telehealth Clinical Videoconferencing in Telehealth, 89-104. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08765-8_5 

Johnston, B., Coole, C., Freakes, R., Whitworth, G., Tyell, T., & Hardy, B. (2016). Exploring the barriers to and facilitators of implementing research into practice. British Journal of Community Nursing, 2(8), 392-398. 

Degaetano, N., & Shore, J. (2014). Conducting a Telehealth Needs Assessment.  Behavioral Telehealth Clinical Videoconferencing in Telehealth, 23-54. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08765-8_2 

Appendix A 

Need statement 

Due to the poverty levels in Jordan, Minnesota, many people living in that community have no access to healthcare on a timely basis. Many individuals are often seen in the Urgent Care clinic with issues that could have been handled by a primary care giver. In addition, cases of undiagnosed and untreated diseases such as diabetes are often seen. It is therefore important that health care is accessible to all even without having to visit a clinic in order to see a health care provider. This can be enabled though the use of Telehealth Technology. There are 83 doctors for every 100,000 people in Jordan. The US average is 210 for every 100,000 individuals. The Jordan figure shows that inadequate provision of health care services in Jordan. On average, a person commutes 276 minutes one way in search of health care services. This is beyond the average US figure. The problem of health care mostly affects the elderly and those in the rural parts. 

  Program description 

This plan is meant to assess, establish and implement methods to improve the capacity for both healthcare staff and patients in the application of Telehealth technology in the organization’s health services delivery. Telehealth technology has the capacity to promote access to healthcare and the provision of health services even in the most remote areas (Sebasen et al., 2014). The plan for capacity building for Telehealth technology came up with three major areas. These are: capacity development for workforce. This includes the establishment and provision of skills on how to work using this technology for each area in the health care delivery system. Some of the needs of the health care staff include issues such as identification and management of risks, developing Telehealth technology health care plan etc. 

Goals and Objectives 

The major goal of the proposed changes is to create accessibility of health care services to all through the use of Telehealth technology. The objectives of the proposal are: 

Increase workforce capacity 

Training on the use of telehealth for health care providers 

Improve patient outcomes 

Provision of cheap and affordable care through technology 

Program Evaluation 

The implementation of the technology will be followed up and evaluated. The aim of this is to make sure that the program implementation is moving as expected and nothing is left out. The following indicators will be used to assess the program: 

Timely completion of all the implementation activities 

Efficient communication throughout the program implementation 

Effective management of risks involved 

Proper governance of the program implementation 

Summary 

The proposed change is vital in ensuring accessibility of health care services no matter the location of an individual. The financial support of the funding organization is important because the program involves activities such as training and installation of telehealth technology which requires financial input due to purchase of equipment and expertise.