Change Management of Innovation

Few economic sectors in Germany are subject to numerous reforms and dynamics as much as the health economy. Due to governmental interventions in the health care system, insured persons and service providers alike need to continually adapt to new framework conditions (Verbraucherportal 2015). In 2003, major changes took place in the entire medical landscape. Based on the 1992 Health Care Structure Reform Act, the principle of cost coverage was abolished. From then on, physicians were no longer able to recover the costs incurred from statutory health insurance companies. Due to further state-initiated health care reforms in 2004, 2007, and 2011 and the creation of additional drastic measures associated with it, physicians were forced to fully rethink their role. As a result, physicians, to this day, have been increasingly facing the challenge of acting economically and entrepreneurially in order to still manage to generate profits and thus maintain their practices based on the legally specified remuneration (Reuschl 2011, p. 2). On the other hand, physicians must also come up to the ethical responsibility of their profession, without allowing themselves to be made the henchmen of society (Dinkel 1991, p. 456). Within such a complex and dynamic environment, sustainable success can be ensured only if the above-mentioned changes will be encountered with an appropriate management system. A possible solution approach is given by an integrated change management system for medical practices which allows to prepare the medical as well as non-medical staff for the introduction and long-term implementation of new processes, and to promote the readiness and ability for changes (Schwenk 2013, p. 24). The present paper, first of all, endeavors to define the concept of change management, to justify the use of change management at medical practices, and to display the course of change management processes. Afterwards, selected solution approaches for using change management at medical practices are presented and discussed. Finally, the results of this investigation are summarized.