“Physicians need to be in active management of change. Particularly with respect to the implementation of technology, change needs to be planned and implemented in advance of the implementation. The use of change management strategies at an early stage might save a great deal of money and organizational pain. In order to implement technology or any health-care strategy successfully, physicians need to involve din that change. The best technology in the world will be ineffective if system planning is not accomplished by careful attention to change management. . . . [C]omprehensive staff orientation and training prior to initiation should include open communication about the technology, clear understanding of the goals, administrative support and leadership should be visible, and get buy-in from the users from the beginning. Every attempt should be made to avoid being cryptic or secretive. Physician leadership is a crucial element to change management because the physician is able to encourage, guide, and support the successful implementation from its inception to its completion.” [M. Susan Kraft, MD, CRO, Family Physician, Baptist-Lutheran Medical Center, Goopeert Family Medicine Residency Program]
At the more Golden Yellow end of Tangy Orange, we find advocates for longer-term strategic planning with an emphasis on the systematic collection and organization of data to achieve specifiable and measurable goals. At this end of Tangy Orange, we also find an emphasis on being realistic about what can actually be accomplished given limited time, resources and energy. Priorities need to be set and tough decisions need to be made regarding what to set aside. We have to “cut down some trees” (McKenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 220):
“I have an analogy I use. Every time I plant a tree in my garden, I know that it is going to frow and eventually the branches from each tree are going to run into each other. So every few years, I have to cut down a tree or two and no longer do one or two of the activities. I either pass it on to someone else to do, or just narrow my focus.” [Daniel S. Durrie, MD, Ophthalmologist, President, Durrie Vision Center]
Conversely, at the Ruby Red end of Tangy Orange we are likely to find advocates for short term tactical planning with an emphasis on “just-in-time” data gathering and analysis. For these Red-leaning Tangy Orange leaders, there is not time in a VUCA-Plus health care environment to engage in extensive data gathering. They would declare: “This data is likely to be outmoded in a few days and we can’t wait for slow-moving thoughtful analyses given the immediate challenges we are facing.” This orientation toward immediate use of data and information is to be found not only in the Tangy Orange leader’s interaction with others in their organization but also in their interaction with patients (McKenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 95:
“I know that using computers, I could better help patients know warning signs, what to expect, what to do next. The computer was the obvious way to do all that. So I used a word processor to create patient handouts on paper.”[Randall Gates, MC, Family Physician, Founder and President, Docs, Inc.]
I suspect that this leader would be delighted with the prospect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) further assisting the “just-in-time” physician-patient relationship. Fast AI analyses would be welcomed by the Reddish Tangy Orange leader—and not welcomed by those who worry about the loss of a “human-touch” in health care (especially the Azure Blue leader who is concerned about the nature of a physician’s influence on patients).
