The tools in this stage will enable you to build a strong foundation for executing a successful service line reorganization of any scale.

• Part I: Evaluate your need for change
• Part II: Prepare your institution for reorganization

Evaluate Your Need to Change

As market pressures continue to build, CV leaders must re-evaluate their organizational and leadership structures to ensure they’re able to support their program’s strategy and goals under value-based care. Many programs will find they’ll need to evolve their service line model to meet these new demands. These changes can range from comprehensive reorganization, to smaller-scale changes in reporting structure or leader roles.

Follow the steps below to evaluate how your service line model is faring under the changing market forces, identify how you’ll need to improve to better accommodate the new mandates on CV care, and see how one CV program brought these steps to life in their own reorganization.

Step 1: Define your service line’s strategic aims

Step 2: Determine if your program needs to reorganize to achieve these aims

How well is your current model supporting your service line priorities? Use our Reorganization Diagnostic to evaluate external and internal factors that may be signaling the need for service line organizational change.

Step 3: Identify a service line model that meets your institution’s needs

There’s no right answer for a service line model—programs have to design a structure that is feasible for them. We’ve mapped out the Spectrum of Sophistication for CV Service Line Structure Characteristics, which you can use to identify where you are now, and where you want to be.

Then, read our Program Profiles of Innovative Service Lines to learn how four progressive programs are adapting their CV program models to meet the challenges of value-based care.

Once you've read the profiles, use our Discussion Guide to evaluate which of these principles you should apply in your own institution.

Prepare Your Institution for Reorganization

Now that you have an understanding of the reasons and ways in which you would like to change your service line model, you need to ensure the rest of your institution is also on board before implementing change. Gaining executive buy-in is a critical first step, but everyone who is impacted by a reorganization must be engaged to ensure a smooth rollout.

The tools below leverage insights from out-of-industry experts on change management as well as organizations who’ve gone through successful service line transformation themselves, to help you set the foundation for an effective and efficient reorganization.

Step 1: Determine which key elements your reorg strategy is missing

Which of the following components of a comprehensive service line reorganization strategy do you still need to develop or achieve?

Clear understanding of impetus for change
Executive alignment and buy-in
Accountable design team of key stakeholders
Well-defined development plan and timeline for rollout
Comprehensive institution-wide communication strategy

Step 2: Ensure your executive team is aligned with your service line goals

Service line administrators and hospital leaders need to be in full alignment before reorganization begins. Use our Hospital-Service Line Alignment Discussion Guide during your next meeting with hospital execs to make sure you’re on the same page for what the service line needs to accomplish.

Step 3: Clearly explain the urgency and rationale for service line reorganization to your executive team

Facing resistance to service line reorganization from hospital leaders? Get our Ready-to-Use Presentation on the drivers of CV service line organizational change to demonstrate why a progressive service line model is more important than ever—and that reorganization is worth the investment.

Step 4: Engage key stakeholders through a multidisciplinary reorg design committee

Designing a new service line model requires a well-structured, efficient steering committee of key service line leaders. Use our Customizable Reorg Design Team Charter Template to create your own team to manage the change—down to the weekly agenda—to ensure a successful and timely rollout.

Step 5: Communicate change throughout the institution

CV physician and administrative leaders aren’t the only individuals impacted by service line reorganization. Staff across the hospital may be indirectly affected, so it’s important to proactively gain their support as well. This Customizable FAQ will clearly explain the why and how of service line reorganization to ease the transition for staff across the institution.

Step 6: Monitor ongoing service line performance

To ensure your service line model is advancing your program’s goals, you need to be effectively monitoring performance in a service line-wide dashboard. Our Best Practices for Comprehensive CV Dashboards will guide you through the process of designing and leveraging high-value dashboards.

Then, learn how the metrics of service line success are changing, and how two programs are incorporating these new measures of performance into their service line and leader dashboards.

Finally, you can use our CV Dashboard Database to access dashboards programs are using to monitor CV service line and sub-service line performance for guidance when designing your own.

Case Profile: Cone Health Effectively Staging Service Line Reorganization

Follow one CV program as it executes a principled change management strategy using the above steps in order to successfully design and implement a new service line model.