Who is Moving Our Cheese?: Preparing for Change

Dear Medical Staff Services Professional,

As I read Mr. Greeley’s July 29 post, “The Future of American Medical Care,” I thought about our profession and the book I read many years ago, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, MD.   When Dr. Johnson wrote this book in 1998 he may have had the organized medical staff and medical staff services professionals in mind.  It is inevitable that the Organized Medical Staff, as we know it, will change…and we as medical staff professionals must embrace these changes to enable our medical staffs to effectively and efficiently adapt – and benefit from ongoing improvements.  We all need to have the mindset and skillset to change before someone moves our cheese. 

Each time something new comes along, our immediate reaction is to resists because we don’t have enough staff to do it.  Some examples include assisting our Quality Departments with OPPE or our Human Resources Departments with Dependent Health Practitioners.   Instead of focusing on barriers, try to make each of these challenges an opportunity to become indispensable to your hospital and your medical staff.  In doing so, you will help to ensure a meaningful future for your department and further your career and book of knowledge.    

So, don’t get too comfortable in what you do today because it is not going to stay the same.  Take some time to read Who Moved My Cheese? and use it as a framework for personal innovation.  Be ready; so you never have to say the words “Who Moved My Cheese?”