Organizational Change

Process Improvement Primer: The Five Principles

Dave Gustafson, NIATx Director, discusses the five key principles of process improvement in mental health agency organizations: 1) Pick a powerful change leader, 2) Fix the key problems, 3) Get ideas from outside the organization or field, 4) Understand and involve the consumer, and 5) Use rapid-cycle testing to establish effective changes. He urges organizations to get used to change and adaptation and to take an “unknowing stance” when seeking to discover what clients need. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to increase access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:08:33)

The Power of Process Improvement

Individuals from various agencies give praise for process improvement through the NIATx model. They discuss how process improvement has maximized their funding, kept staff engaged and motivated, and improved treatment. They also discuss the importance of change team meetings and the implementation of change projects. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:04:18)

The Business Case for Process Improvement

In this video, individuals from various agencies describe how implementing the NIATx model for process improvement was successful in their organizations. They discuss three challenges they were able to attack and achieve: 1) Improve access to services, 2) Reduce costs, and 3) Increase revenue. Although this video is intended to praise NIATx coaching, the wealth of examples and insight regarding change implementation would be useful for all professionals. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:04:49)

Story of NIATx: Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies at UW Madison

This video presents the backstory of NIATx and describes the parallels between organizational change in other industries and the addictions/mental health care industry. Important aspects of implementing change are described, including improving engagement, increasing revenue, making and testing small changes rather than making big changes imposed by entities outside the agency, and utilizing the tools that NIATx offers, tools many behavioral healthcare workers may not be familiar with. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:06:33)

Seven Principles of Contingency Management and Motivational Incentives

In this short video, Dr. Scott Kellogg lists the seven principles that treatment centers should address when implementing change protocols. He explains that when organizations fail to make successful changes, it’s often because of a failure to consider one of these principles. This video was provided by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network (ATTC), which created The Change Book: A Blueprint for Technology Transfer (www.nattc.org). This video is available on their vimeo.com channel ATTC Network. (00:01:31)

Scott Kellogg PhD on the 7 Principles from ATTC Network on Vimeo.

Process Improvement Primer: Importance of the Walk-Through

Dave Gustafson, NIATx Director, discusses the importance of putting yourself in the consumer’s position as literally as possible. He describes the example of walking through the experience of getting open-heart surgery (without the actual operation) and checking himself into a few addiction treatment programs. He describes the key information he gathered through playing the role of the patient, things he would not have noticed had he not gone through the experience. This video is a segment from Dr. Gustafon’s entire speech, and it ends abruptly. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to and retention in addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:06:22)

How To Choose a Change Project

In this very short video, NIATx coach Betty Owen explains how choosing a change project should be tied to the organization’s mission, based on solid data, and led by quality personnel. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:02:30)

Our Change Team is Stuck…What Next?

In this very short video, the Assistant Director of New York City Health and Hospital Corporation and NIATx Coach discusses how to inspire a stuck change team. One of the suggestions he offers is to use visualization props. Another suggestion is to invite a consumer to be part of the change team. NIATx is the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment that teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to, and retention in, addiction treatment. This video is available on their YouTube channel NIATxNPO. Visit NIATx’s website for more information. (00:01:40)