The importance of change management in hospital accreditation

Abstract

Background: The Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) has adopted the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) scheme for their public hospital accreditation program. Continuous improvement is a vital aspect of the ACHS criteria and facilitates the movement from status quo to the desired state; therefore, change is necessary, and change management may be useful.

Objectives: To identify the current level of evidence regarding change management with respect to hospital accreditation and to identify the common change management tools that may be relevant to hospital accreditation.

Methods: The primary method was a search of MEDLINE and PubMed for articles published between January 2001 and April 2011. Grey literature was identified via a Google search. Unpublished data was retrieved from an on-going qualitative study of hospital accreditation in Hong Kong.

Results: No literature with the keywords “change management” and “hospital accreditation” were found in MEDLINE or PubMed. By adjusting these keywords to identify articles about change management in healthcare, 84 citations were identified, 18 of which were included for review. The majority of the literature described increased communication as a change management intervention. Change management framework and tools were also found in the grey literature review.

Results: No literature with the keywords “change management” and “hospital accreditation” were found in MEDLINE or PubMed. By adjusting these keywords to identify articles about change management in healthcare, 84 citations were identified, 18 of which were included for review. The majority of the literature described increased communication as a change management intervention. Change management framework and tools were also found in the grey literature review.