In a recent Hayes Management Consulting blog, Henry (Hank) Bernstein, DO, MHCM, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and Shannon Cleary, BA, Research Assistant, Cohen Children's Medical Center of NY provide 4 strategies to enhance frontline engagement in continuous improvement.
It is well known that a key objective in the evolving healthcare landscape is improving outcomes. To meet that goal, many organizations are embracing the tenets of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Triple Aim – improving the health of populations, enhancing the patient experience, and reducing the cost of care.
Achieving success in these tenets requires implementing practice improvement. Traditionally, individual members of clinical teams haven't been eager to participate in practice improvement programs, largely due to heavy clinical and administrative workloads. However, to accomplish meaningful, productive change, providers on the frontline must be involved in the development and implementation of any practice improvement initiative.
In 2015, a group of colleagues and I proposed an evidence-informed framework that would encourage providers to break through individual silos within the clinical team and get involved in improving practices in clinical settings.
Leveraging our framework to increase engagement provides a great opportunity for healthcare leaders to pay close attention to the performance of the frontline provider - one of the most valued stakeholders in healthcare. To enhance engagement, we need to educate providers to think in terms of teams, not individuals.
Simply telling providers to buy into what needs to be done won't be effective. Instead, we need to embed a continuous improvement strategy into practice that allows care providers to express their concerns and unleash their creativity to develop and test new practices. We must make providers feel valued so they will take ownership of and drive real change. We want our frontline providers to create learning environments rather than to respond to edicts imposed from on high. Better engagement is the key to releasing the power of teamwork.