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Moving at the Speed of Trust
Trust is like visibility on the road—when it’s low, navigating change feels like driving through dense fog. Every turn is uncertain, every step is cautious, and progress is slow because the path ahead is unclear. But as trust builds, that fog lifts, clarity improves, and forward movement accelerates with confidence. Everyone is aligned, not just on the destination, but also on the best route to get there.
Yet, 70% of change initiatives fail, often due to lack of trust and buy-in.
Trust is essential when attempting to implement change. Pushing change too quickly without it often leads to resistance and avoidable missteps. However, when trust is strong, collaboration improves, obstacles become easier to navigate, and sustainable transformation occurs.
The Role of Trust in Physician Engagement
Drawing from their training and experience, physicians prioritize evidence-based decision-making and seek clarity for administrative and operational changes. They expect transparency and meaningful engagement before embracing new processes. Trust forms the foundation of successful change management, ensuring that initiatives garner support rather than resistance.
“Moving at the speed of trust” means recognizing that physicians need confidence in the integrity of the process, the individuals leading it, and the ultimate vision. It’s not just about setting a pace—it’s about making sure progress is widely understood, supported, and sustained.
The Pillars of Building Trust
To successfully implement change, medical group leaders should prioritize four key elements that foster trust:
- Transparency – Open, honest communication about goals, impacts, and trade-offs. Physicians need to understand the “why” behind changes and feel confident that no hidden agendas exist.
- Collaboration – True alignment comes when physicians are involved in decision-making. When they feel like active participants rather than passive recipients, they take ownership of the change, and the insights they provide ensure the change supports high-quality patient care.
- Consistency – Trust is built over time through actions that align with words. Making promises is easy, but following through consistently – even when it’s hard – is what earns long-term credibility.
- Data-Driven Approach – Physicians rely on evidence. Using objective metrics to reinforce fairness and sustainability ensures that changes are rooted in facts rather than anecdotes and what can feel like arbitrary decisions.
Real-World Impact: Trust in Action
A behavioral health-focused healthcare organization struggled for years to implement operational improvements in their primary care clinic. Despite their best efforts, they seemed to face resistance from physicians and staff, making progress slow and difficult to sustain. However, when we dug a little deeper, we realized that no one had really involved them in reimagining how care for very complex patients could be delivered.
The leadership team recognized that they had to try something else and engaged Ancore’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Josh Honaker, to lead the transformation. Dr. Honaker’s first step was to begin building trust with the primary care clinic’s providers and staff. “It all starts with intentionality to sit, listen, and ask questions. What are the gaps, opportunities, and barriers? How do you recommend we move forward? Then both parties discuss and come up with a collaborative plan how to move forward. Physicians, like all professionals, respond best to dialogue and collaboration, not mandates.”
By directly involving the clinic’s providers and staff in the process, openly discussing challenges, and seeking input on potential solutions, everything shifted. The team gained a clearer understanding of the inefficiencies and had a significant role in shaping the changes. Because the physicians trusted that their voices mattered and that the organization was working towards a shared goal, they became more willing and engaged participants in the transformation. Operational improvements that had been previously attempted over many years were set into motion within mere months, resulting in an increase to 12 patients seen per day (up from eight) and less after-hours charting by providers.
The Bottom Line
Change in healthcare is inevitable (and dare we say, necessary), but its success depends on trust. Without it, even the best strategies will falter. With it, change happens not only faster but with stronger engagement, better outcomes, and a unified team moving forward together.
By prioritizing transparency, collaboration, consistency, and data-driven decisions, leaders can ensure that they aren’t just implementing change… they’re fostering a culture where trust accelerates progress. Moving at the speed of trust isn’t just a strategy—it’s the key to sustainable transformation.
