Engaging local stakeholders in consolidation decisions.

When health systems decide to close or consolidate a service,communication can easily become an afterthought. Theseservice rationalization decisions are both sensitive and time-consuming, leaving executives worried about sharing too muchinformation too soon, and with little time to communicateregardless. Without earlier involvement and transparency,affected site leaders, staff, and communities don’t have theopportunity to contribute or process the change. As a result, theyresent the choice and disengage from the transition process,undermining the rationalization effort’s original goals.

Communication should be core to the decision-making process.For a smoother transition to a new system distribution, engagelocal leaders as early as possible and be open about evaluatingchanges.