Managing change in the context of health reform: lessons from Alberta

A qualitative field study of health system reform in Alberta was undertaken to identify, describe, compare and contrast the processes of change management adopted and implemented as a result of legislated health policy shift. Chairs and chief executives of the new regional health authorities and provincial leaders managing the change processes within Alberta's health care system were interviewed. Components of change strategies important to the structure, process and impact of the health policy shift to a regionalized system of care were identified and analyzed. Stakeholders involved in managing change inside Alberta's health care system were able to consistently identify a range of issues important to beginning and sustaining health policy shift. These issues and insights did not come from the literature, but rather from experience. To test and share this experience further, it will be important to study more consciously the management of change in relation to expected outcomes. With so many natural experiments altering health care systems across Canada and beyond, a window of opportunity exists for researching both the quality and quantity of such change, comparing and sharing findings over time and, eventually, linking process to outcome.