KAISER PERMANENTE INNOVATION CONSULTANCY 2

Kaiser Permanente Innovation Consultancy

Identify processes, work units, interdepartmental committees, etc., within an
organizational structure that are being evaluated by the Consultancy in order to promote a
proactive approach toward change.
The Innovation Consultancy unit evaluated various work units and processes with the
goal of promoting a proactive approach to change. The work units that were evaluated included
not just nursing units but also doctor and pharmacy units. The evaluation involved observing
how the different professionals conduct their work and asking them questions about how they
feel about the work that they do (Palmer, Dunford & Buchanan, 2017). The consultancy experts
then determined the changes that needed to be made based on these observations and feedback
from the healthcare professionals.
Apart from the work units, the Innovation Consultancy unit also observed various
processes involving the healthcare professionals. One of the processes that was observed was the
inter-shift nurse handover process. This process involves outgoing nurses giving incoming nurses
information about the medical condition of patients, drug administration guidelines, and other
medical instructions. By carefully observing how this process was carried out, the Innovation
Consultancy experts sought to determine areas that needed improvement so that the process
could be more effective and efficient. For instance, the observation revealed that the handover
process takes a lot of time (approximately 45 minutes) (Palmer et al., 2017). Such lengthy
handover results in nurses spending less time with the patients.
Additionally, the medical instructions that the outgoing nurses left to incoming nurses
were often not standardized thus making incoming nurses to miss important details. Missing

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important details regarding the condition of a patient or their treatment regime can have negative
effects on health outcomes of the patient as it leads to commission of medical errors.
Discuss what barriers you perceive existed within the segments of the consortium that
hindered change prior to the innovative and improvement approach that was launched.
Various barriers existed that hindered change prior to the launching of the innovative and
improvement approach. One of these barriers was poor communication. Nurses and other
healthcare professionals working in the hospital knew that there was need to make changes to the
way that they interacted with each other and the way certain processes in the facility were
conducted. However, they could not voice their opinions and, therefore, decision-makers could
not know changes that needed to be made.
Incorporate the underlying skill sets discussed in the case study. Draw upon your readings
in Ch.12, “The Effective Change Manager: What Does It Take?”
The Kaiser Permanente case study underlines some of the skill sets that change managers
ought to have in order to be effective in bringing about change in organizations. These skills are
highlighted in the McBer competency model. One of these skills is interpersonal skills. A key
interpersonal skill highlighted in the McBer competency model is ability to show empathy
(Palmer et al., 2017, p. 368). Without empathy, Innovation Consultancy unit’s change experts
would not have been able to understand some of the problems nurses go through by simply
observing them. Another skill that that change managers should have as shown in the McBer
competency model is diagnostics skills. Included in diagnostics skills is ability to collect data
through various methods, such as observations and interviews (Palmer et al., 2017, p. 368). The
experts exhibited this skill when they collected a lot of valuable data about the through
interviewing thee nurses, doctors and pharmacists, observing them as they worked, and even

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using drawings. Using these data collection methods, the experts were able to acquire valuable
information which they used to determine the changes that needed to be made in the
organization. Another skill that change managers need to have is the ability to influence others.
They need to be able to convince individuals and organizations to use their services or to accept
their views. Innovation Consultancy experts certainly have this skill because they were able to
convince Kaiser Permanente to adopt the changes that they proposed.

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References

Palmer, I., Dunford, R. & Buchanan, D. A. (2017). Managing Organizational Change: A
Multiple Perspectives Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.