Why a top-down approach to change doesn't work

The exact standard created in one clinic rarely works in another. The patient demographics are different, the doctors have different interests and practice styles, and so on. Instead of applying a top-down, cookie-cutter approach, leaders should give clinics a playbook not to simply copy but to "copy-improve." When physicians and staff have the freedom to determine what is applicable in their individual setting and adapt the standard to their own environment and needs, the desired change is more likely to take root.

Adapted from "Why Best Practices Fail to Spread."

Posted on Jan 26, 2018 by FPM Editors