It's not uncommon to learn about intriguing ideas and concepts at workshops and conferences, but how often can you really apply those new ideas in your workplace?

The Director of Academic Clinics at the Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mary Pophal, is an idea sponge at workshops. She takes copious notes, asks many questions, and continually churns ideas until she figures out how to put them into action.

"I'm already thinking during the conference, OK how would I implement it? And, if I can't figure it out, I usually ask the experts." Mary knows that the best way to encourage change is to try as many new things as possible. "I'm pretty proactive when it comes to this."

Several years ago she attended a Patient Visit Redesign™ Workshop presented by Roger Coleman. One principle of redesign is "Communicate Directly". Flag, intercom, and light systems are passive communication methods that are passé in redesign. Instead, staff communicate in real time with walkie-talkies.

"I had no idea of even how to go about purchasing something like that," Pophal said. But since her staff lost a lot of "sneaker time" looking for each other, and walkies were inexpensive, she thought it was worth a try and would make a difference.

"I personally like change. And that helps me move forward," said Pophal. Since she knows no new idea will be implemented without a hitch, she calls everything a "pilot". She could also call it a series of experiments or tests ("iterative testing"). Staff know Mary's goals are to solve problems and find ways of working smarter. The objective of the "pilot" is to work out all the kinks and then implement the proven solution.

Pophal took the same approach in implementing Advanced Access (a same day patient scheduling system she learned at an Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference).

Prior to these changes, the average patient visit cycle time (the total time a patient spends in the clinic) was 75 minutes. After implementing walkie-talkies and Advanced Access, the cycle time dropped to 59 minutes.

"But, still, even 59 minutes is still a really long time for an internal medicine clinic," said Pophal. "So, we know we have much further to go."

And further she will go. She just hired Coleman Associates to do Clinic Redesign Team Training so her own staff will be trained and guided to overhaul the patient visit process. "I'm bringing in the experts to help us on this journey," she says.

Successfully implementing change requires leadership, optimism, and a lot of trial and error. Mary Pophal exemplifies those characteristics. "My main message would be, try it, it can't hurt," said Pophal.