Implement change that fosters sustainable growth and better patient care Health care projects depend on astute management of change. But more than anything else, they depend on leaders who pay attention, who understand the importance of starting right, and who know how to launch projects that succeed. If leaders can increase the percentage of successful projects, patients, and practitioners everywhere will be better off and so will the organizations that depend on these projects for innovation. In Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations: Managing Successful Projects. Author David A. Shore of the Harvard School of Public Health speaks directly to the health care leaders and managers who see the need for change, but keep encountering nearly insurmountable challenges. Through his research, Shore discovered that most implementation failures occur because of a poor launch, and that strengthening processes and operations during the early weeks of a new project is a key to continued success. The book covers issues like: * The preliminary groundwork that cultivates a stronger launch * Systematic and selective project selection * Building the team that accomplishes change * Skill-building and record-keeping systems that foster sustainable growth Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations gives leaders and managers the practical, easy-to-implement ideas and methodologies to start and manage projects successfully.

American health care has made great strides in the past hundred years. Life expectancy has increased dramatically and advances in medicine and treatments have eradicated many life-threatening diseases. However, in today's health care arena there is divergence between our health needs, the structure of our health care system, and how health care is delivered and funded.

In "Forces of Change," David A. Shore has collected the leading thinking from experts in the field on how our health care system can benefit from important lessons from other industries and effect transformational change that truly serves all stakeholders well.

Contributors include Max Caldwell of Towers Watson; Michael J. Dowling of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Health System; John P. Glaser of Siemens Healthcare; Ashish K. Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health; Eric D. Kupferberg of Northeastern University; Lucian Leape of the Harvard School of Public Health; Jeff Margolis of the TriZetto Group, Inc.; and David Shoultz of Philips Electronics.