Bio: Rachel Lewis, M.A., a 2008–09 Commonwealth Fund Harkness/Health Foundation Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is a community matron Manchester Primary Care Trust. She is also nurse adviser to the Department of Health, where she is assisting in the implementation of the Renal National Service Framework. In addition, she has been a member of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal committee for the past 5 years. Lewis previously held positions as a policy writer for Clinicenta, as a nurse practitioner and senior staff nurse in acute nephrology at Hull Royal Infirmary, and as a renal nurse practitioner in nephrology at Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline. Lewis has written several articles, including "Time for a Change—using action learning to transform renal service," which was published in the British Journal of Renal Medicine. She holds a master's degree in economic and social studies and a bachelor's degree in politics from Manchester University, and a diploma of nursing studies from Leeds College of Health.
Placement: Veterans Health Administration
Mentors: Martin Charns, D.B.A.
Project: Why Don't Physicians Engage in Change: And Why Should We Care?
Description: Rachel Lewis identified common factors that promote physician engagement in organizational change. She conducted a literature review on empirical studies of implementing or evaluating an innovation that involves physicians. From these studies, she identified factors associated with the degree to which physicians engage in the innovation.