The Transformation Of The Norfolk Clinic

In healthcare, throughput refers to the ED process that impacts patient flow (Jarousse 2011). Process and flow began to be scrutinized for opportunities to improve the overcrowding by becoming more efficient. Due to this new process focus, throughput was born. This is also the point where lean flow or lean thinking became prevalent into healthcare from a manufacturing stand point to improve throughput. Lean principles revolve around removing non value added steps and standardizing work flow and processes. When applied aggressively hospital wide, lean principles can have a dramatic effect on productivity, cost, and quality. Numerous books concerning lean healthcare have been published in recent years (Crane & Noon 2011).

Sinclair memorial hospital has the following background information: 305 bed acute care facility, 6,300 in patient visits, 17,000 emergency patients yearly, 13,600 clinic visits and 8,500 outpatient visits. Services offered by the facility include: community health care, primary care, home health care, and cancer care. Before entering the HIM department there is a code of dressing that is expected. For the IT department, a casual wear is recommended but the most important part is the identification badge which has to visible all the time. The identification badge shows one is an employee in a particular department and also allows the accessibility of restricted areas within the organization. The facility has to be accessible to the public but The HIM department is expected to be secure in order to keep other employees and unauthorized persons from accessing and accessibility can achieved through authorization and permission are coded in the badge Recording is procedural, for example when a patient is brought by an ambulance, the nurse starts electronic recording through documentation and the health care information is kept throughout the period the patient is being taken care of by other health providers

* Meet each and every target physician and entire office staff within the first two weeks in the field. Leave contact information. Identify decision makers within clinics.

During week one meet with staff and providers to discuss the research that supports my change project. Also, randomly talking with patients to get their input and what they feel would meet their learning needs. Meeting with the stakeholders from my clinic. Reaching out to the IT department and meeting with the finance department.

The first step of the analysis is to collect data which will help with the understanding of the events. Identifying what data to collect and how and what to compare the results can be challenging. The organization should have a baseline to compare to see how the changes are working. Comparing information to similar organizations through benchmarking may indicate the success of the organization or program. Ransom, Joshi, Nash and Ransom (2008) state “benchmarking compares processes and success through gap analysis, process variation & organizational opportunities for improvement” (pg. 132). Data can be collected from prior litigations and claims information. Monitoring the information through monthly reports can indicate if process modifications or changes are needed. Once information is identified immediate action should be taken to ensure patient safety and minimize risk.

Many healthcare organizations set goals and objections and write mission statements that reflect the way they want the public to see how healthcare is provided. This is done to guide how their healthcare providers practice daily. In order to meet these goals and objects it is necessary to have in place processes and procedures to ensure the results will be what is expected which is a positive patient experience and outcome. In order for our organization to reach this goal there is a coaching and execution package that will provide step-by-step processes and procedures to ensure that everyone is doing the same thing at the same time

The methodology is service friendly and all of the hospital staff is encouraged to provide their input. This methods con is that the method is structured primarily for health care organizations. Florida Hospital uses the Six Sigma method for quality improvement because it provides the best opportunity to implement best practices that have been identified.

Which of the activities identified in the case study on process-of-care measures can be pursued most quickly by your organization? What are the obstacles to getting started? How can those obstacles be overcome?

To facilitate quality improvement initiatives in Ontario, Health Quality Ontario (HQO) has developed a comprehensive Quality Improvement Framework (2013) that brings together several QI science models and methodologies including the Model for Improvement, as well as traditional manufacturing quality improvement methods such as Lean and Six Sigma. Health Quality Ontario grounded their framework in Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge to ensure that the suggested processes could be applied to any quality improvement initiative, in any health care sector. Health Quality Ontario’s QI Framework consists of six phases. Each of the phases is iterative and designed to build on knowledge gained in the previous phase. The phases are:

Planning the change – Ensure that all research has been completed; examine the organisational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure they are in line with the vision.

For over 120 years, Scott and White has been a pioneer in offering inventive, understanding focused watch over people and families from over the area, the express, the nation and the world.

The clinic manager’s role in this process change will be to educate the staff on the importance of this change and why this change needs to happen. The manager will also be responsible for monitoring staff engagement and if the patients are receiving this education. The manager is the one who has the power to get this project off the ground. The manager’s interest in the change is to increase the clinics patient satisfaction and to ensure that the patients are educated. The manager will be the person responsible for maintaining the information on the Internet with the clinic-specific information.

Dr. David Torchiana (Cardiac Surgeon) and Dr. Richard Bohmer (Quality Improvement Administrator) want to improve the process in the hospital by

Healthcare providers strive to improve service quality by implementing various quality management programs. Customers tend to seek for higher quality of care when choosing treatments, providers, and health plans. For healthcare organizations that desire to provide high quality care and compete in the global market, choosing a quality management program to implement is critical for performance and efficiency. Many studies have been conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such programs. Lean, Six Sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM) are three programs that will reviewed by three different case studies in efforts to understand them and to compare and contrast their capabilities.

As revealed by Brown (2014), process and result are the two aspects that the examiners seek. Process is the way the organizations run their business, it involves approach and logic used, deployment and implementation of the approach, learning and improvement from the implemented approach and the integration of the approach into the organization. While the results embroils not only the outcome of the products and services, customers, financial and market and leadership and governance (Foster and Chenoweth, 2011); but also the comparison of current performance from the pervious, comparison with competitors, cause and effect relationship and other measures. In recent years the health care centers and hospitals have been a major recipient of the Baldrige award, the reason being their adherence to the Baldrige processes. Likewise, Sutter Davis Hospital one of the Baldrige Award Winners in 2013; earned this award through their exceptional performance in health care and patient focused process, their devoted workforce with effective leadership.