| Course | HI550 Organizational Development and Management for Health Information |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Communication plan |
| Length | About 1,090 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Health Informatics |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HI550 Unit 9
Supervisors Hear First: A Unit 9 Communication Plan for Moving Release of Information Into One Central Office
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HI550: Organizational Development and Management for Health Information
Unit 9 Communication Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Quillan Health, its audiences, dates and the request figures are composite; the sources cited are real.
The Change Being Communicated
Beginning on day zero of the third phase, every request for patient records at Quillan Health's three hospitals will be processed by a central release office at the regional medical center. Front counters at each hospital will still take walk-in requests and hand records to patients, but the work of logging, reviewing and preparing releases will move. Two release specialists at the community hospital will transfer to the central office, and the critical access hospital's records technician will take on a redefined role at her site.
Why the Larkins
Larkin and Larkin (1994) studied how companies communicate major change to frontline employees and reached three conclusions that fit a records department closely. First, frontline staff trust their immediate supervisor far more than senior leaders they rarely see, so supervisors should be told first and should be the ones who tell their staff. Second, important change should be communicated face to face, because people judge credibility by watching the person speaking. Third, people want to know what the change means for their own work before they hear the strategy behind it. Each audience below is written from that side: the change to its own tasks comes first.
The Sequencing Table
Each audience is listed with what it hears about its own work, who tells it, the channel, the day relative to the announcement, and the question the plan expects first.
1. The two site supervisors whose release staff move. Hears: which staff transfer, what the supervisors keep, and that they will tell their own staff. Messenger: the system HIM director. Channel: in person, one meeting each. Day: minus three. First question: what happens to my staff's seniority and schedules?
2. Release specialists at the community hospital. Hears: their new location, hours and reporting line, and that their pay and seniority carry over. Messenger: their own supervisor. Channel: individual meetings. Day: zero, morning. First question: can I keep working the same shift?
3. The critical access hospital's records technician. Hears: her redefined role, including chart completion, scanning, remote indexing backup and the front counter. Messenger: the system HIM director, at her site. Channel: in person. Day: zero, morning. First question: will people in town still be able to come to me?
4. The rest of the health information department. Hears: who is moving, how requests will be routed, and that no positions are being eliminated. Messenger: site supervisors. Channel: team huddles at each hospital. Day: zero, afternoon. First question: will my workload change?
5. Physicians. Hears: how to request records for their own patients and that turnaround will be tracked. Messenger: the medical staff office. Channel: medical staff meeting and newsletter. Day: plus two. First question: will I get records for transfers as fast as now?
6. Nursing unit clerks who send requests. Hears: the new request form and where to send it. Messenger: nurse managers, with a one-page guide from the department. Channel: unit huddles. Day: plus five. First question: what do I do with the old forms?
7. Patient access staff. Hears: how to direct walk-in requesters and what to say when a patient asks where their records are processed. Messenger: the patient access manager. Channel: team meeting. Day: plus five. First question: what if a patient insists on waiting for copies?
8. Patients and outside requesters. Hears: how to request records, how long it takes and how to check status. Messenger: the release office. Channel: updated website page, portal message and the request form. Day: plus thirty. First question: will this take longer than before?
The critical access technician is the only person told by the director rather than by a supervisor, because her role is being redefined and the supervisor she reports to has no health information background.
Timeline
Day minus three: supervisor briefings. Day minus one: supervisors receive the briefing packet and rehearse with the director. Day zero morning: individual meetings with moving staff and the critical access technician. Day zero afternoon: department huddles at all three sites; the all-staff email goes out only after the last huddle ends. Day plus two: medical staff office briefs physicians. Day plus five: nursing units and patient access. Day plus thirty: updated request form, website and portal message for patients and outside requesters.
The Supervisor Briefing Packet
Each supervisor receives a short packet: a one-paragraph statement of the change in plain language, a list of what stays the same, the answers to the ten questions staff are most likely to ask, and the name of the person to call for anything the packet does not answer. The packet is written for speaking, not reading aloud, so it gives supervisors points to make in their own words.
The Question Log
A shared question log opens on day zero. Every question that a supervisor cannot answer on the spot goes into the log, and the director's office commits to a written answer within 48 hours. Answers are posted where all supervisors can see them, so that the same question asked at two sites gets the same answer.
Two Things Left Out on Purpose
No all-staff email goes out until the affected staff have heard in person. In earlier changes at Quillan, people learned of their own transfers from a system-wide message, and the department still hears about it. The plan also avoids opening with the strategic case for consolidation, which matters to leaders but answers no question a release specialist is asking on day zero.
Signs of Success
Three measures will show whether the plan worked. First, questions in the log are answered within 48 hours at least 90 percent of the time. Second, rumors reported to supervisors are traced to a source and answered within a day. Third, request volume holds steady through the switch, since a drop would suggest requesters are confused about where to send requests. The release office will also watch turnaround, measured from the date each request is received; the federal right of access allows thirty days (45 C.F.R. § 164.524, 2024), and the department's internal target is six business days. Communication practice in health information management treats turnaround during a transition as the measure requesters notice first (Oachs & Watters, 2020).
References
45 C.F.R. § 164.524 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.524
Larkin, T. J., & Larkin, S. (1994). Communicating change: Winning employee support for new business goals. McGraw-Hill.
Oachs, P. K., & Watters, A. L. (Eds.). (2020). Health information management: Concepts, principles, and practice (6th ed.). AHIMA Press.
The Purdue Global HI550 Unit 9 instructions
The ninth unit typically hands you a records department change and asks how you would tell people about it. You will name the audiences, decide what each needs to hear, choose messengers and channels, set a sequence and define how you will know the plan worked. Many prompts ask you to ground the plan in communication research or a change model. Five pages and a sequencing table is a common format. Write each audience's message from that audience's point of view, starting with what changes in its own work. Explain any exception to your general rules. Include a way to collect and answer questions. Instructors often look for what the plan avoids as well as what it does, especially an announcement that reaches staff before their supervisors know.
Inside the HI550 Unit 9 example
The plan opens by stating the change, then explains in one paragraph why the Larkins' three findings fit a records department. Eight numbered audiences follow, each with what it hears, the messenger, channel, day and expected first question, running from the two site supervisors to patients and outside requesters. The highlighted sentence explains the single exception, the critical access technician told in person by the director. A timeline paragraph sets the days. Short sections describe the supervisor briefing packet and a question log with a 48-hour answer rule. Two deliberate omissions are then explained, the early all-staff email and an opening built on strategy. Three signs of success close the plan, along with turnaround measured from receipt against the federal thirty-day access limit.
Where the points sit in the HI550 Unit 9 rubric
Communication plans are usually graded on audience analysis, message and channel choices, sequencing, evaluation and grounding in sources. Audience analysis often carries the largest share and is judged on whether every affected group appears and whether messages are tailored to each. Channel and messenger choices earn credit when they are justified, not just listed. Sequencing is rewarded when it reflects who needs to know first and why. Evaluation needs specific measures. Sources should shape the plan rather than appear in a closing paragraph. A readable table, clear timeline and correct APA format complete the rubric. Plans that send one message to everyone at once, or that open with the organization's strategy, tend to lose points.
HI550 Unit 9 help from the desk
The most common problem is a single all-staff announcement presented as a plan. Another is listing audiences without saying what each needs to hear. Some plans name channels but never say who delivers the message, which matters a great deal to frontline staff. Exceptions to the plan's own rules often go unexplained. Success is frequently defined as the message was sent, which measures activity rather than understanding. Remember outside audiences such as patients and requesters. If your change is different, perhaps a new release vendor or a coding outsourcing decision, tell us who will hear the news and when, and the sequencing table can be redrawn for your rollout.
Get an HI550 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
A communication plan needs a change to announce, so name the one your prompt sets, list the audiences as you see them and attach the rubric. The first custom sample is on the house, takes 24-48h, and gives each audience a named messenger and a place in the order. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HI550 Unit 9 questions, answered
Who are the Larkins and why cite them?
T.J. and Sandar Larkin wrote Communicating Change in 1994, drawing on research into how frontline employees receive organizational news. Their central claims, that supervisors are the most trusted channel, that face-to-face beats print, and that local relevance comes first, suit a department where staff rarely see senior leaders. The example cites them to justify its order of delivery, not as decoration.
Should the director announce the change personally to everyone?
Visible sponsorship matters, but the example reserves the director's personal delivery for the one person whose role changes most and for a brief follow-up at each site. For everyone else, hearing first from a trusted supervisor is more credible. If your course materials emphasize executive sponsorship, the plan can add a director appearance after supervisors have spoken, not before.
How detailed should the timeline be?
Detailed enough that someone else could run it: each step dated relative to the announcement, with an owner. The example uses day minus three through day plus thirty. Calendar dates are unnecessary unless the prompt supplies them. What loses credit is a timeline that says early and ongoing without specifying who tells whom, and when that conversation actually happens.
Where can I find a free HI550 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page contains the full Unit 9 plan, sequencing eight audiences across thirty days with a question log and three success measures.
Why should supervisors deliver change news instead of the director?
Research on frontline communication finds that staff trust their immediate supervisor more than senior leaders, so news from a supervisor in person is more likely to be believed and acted on.