Access to high-quality patient care is at the forefront of every hospital’s mission. It’s a tough task – according to the hospital executive team, interdisciplinary collaboration, a culture that empowers frontline employees and voices that include patients.
At a meeting at the Symplr Healthcare Operations Summit in Chicago on Monday, hospital leaders discussed how they can rethink traditional workflows and hierarchies to ensure more team members can play an active role in driving better outcomes.
Quality is a team sport
Omar Hasan, chief quality officer of health systems, noted that at Mainehealth, executives “always talk about quality and patient safety in the context of being a team movement.”
He said that to help promote interprofessional collaboration, the health system pairs the chief medical officer and chief nursing officer of each of its hospitals to co-chair the Quality and Safety Committee.
Panel member Vi-Anne Antrum (Chief Nursing Officer at Cone Health, North Carolina-based) also highlighted the importance of collaboration between nurses and physicians.
“Nurses are very committed to patient outcomes and safety, and in fact, everyone who works in health care is the same. [quality]. In my experience, our physician colleagues are very concerned about the experience of nurses and the nursing team they work with. ” she said.
She added that hospitals need to build a culture in which all employees are capable of speaking.
“I think sometimes, in some organizations, you create hierarchical structures that really worsen psychological safety and the ability and freedom to speak,” Antrum said.
Involve clinicians in supply chain decision-making
To further improve operations and save money, Cone has begun pairing its supply chain experts more closely with clinical operations staff, Antrum said.
“The partnership between Materials Management and our care team members is about ensuring that what is within their reach can take care of the patient and that the external supply they do not need to be distracted. It also helps us ensure that all the supplies we use and that we need to increase the scope of the license plate to increase the scope of the license plate and illustrates the settings of these levels and clarify the list of these levels and the things that need to be needed.”
Antrum noted that in the past, Cone has not involved doctors (those who actually manage many high-cost medical supplies) in their decisions about buying goods.
Once the health system starts sharing cost data with doctors, she says it makes a big difference.
For example, cones provide data to an anesthesiologist showing the price difference between the two anesthetic drugs. Antrum noted that doctors were not aware that if they did not provide any additional benefits, they immediately agreed to switch to low-cost medications once they saw the data.
The patient's voice is important
Hassan claims that in addition to nurses and doctors, non-clinicians can also provide valuable advice for quality improvement.
Mainhealth engages patients and families in its quality strategies through advisory committees, especially in areas such as pediatric care and surgical pathways.
“We use technology to create a range of patients in the community. They are not actively receiving care, or they may have received care in the past, but we can send them a survey and focus on specific design features on our digital health platform, e.g. [what] The arrangement menu should look like. ” Hassan explained.
Another panelist at Tony Seupauul, chief physician director of Carilion Clinic, Virginia, also noted that patient and family involvement is critical to maintaining quality and safety.
“Sometimes, the biggest advocates you can find are the patients and families who are most angry with the care you provide,” Seupauul declared.
He advised the health system to sit down with these disgruntled families, listen to their stories, and make changes to address their concerns. He also noted that Carilion made several operational improvements, which were direct results of patient feedback.
Cone Health also involves patient safety and process improvement efforts, Antrum said. The health system includes former patients on its Safety Committee’s Cultural Committee and shares data with them, she said.
“We share good, bad, everything with them. They see all our data, and they help us design our processes. I think it's important to get them involved and participate in the conversation. There's no substitute for their voices,” Antrum said.
Photo: Marchmeena29, Getty Images
