By Bette Brotherton
SHANDS HEALTHCARE VICE PRESIDENT FOR CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT
In the August 2010 edition of “On The Same Page,” David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., University of Florida senior vice president for health affairs and UF&Shands Health System president, shared the main themes of the Forward Together joint Strategic Plan for the UF Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare.
He stated, “With respect to our clinical mission, the first and foremost goal is to strive for the highest quality, safest experience for every patient. Put differently, UF&Shands must be built around the patient experience. Quality and Safety are of critical importance.”
We already get a big part of the patient care piece right. The spirit and dedication of our physicians, nurses and everyone who provides patient care is truly uplifting. We hear many heartfelt expressions of appreciation from our patients. We know we have deep talent and clinical capability – important elements for supporting improvement.
As a result of the work of our clinical teams, we are making significant progress in the key areas of mortality, safety, access and other clinical outcome indicators that reflect quality of care. We plan to build upon these successes.
According to Kayser Enneking, M.D., College of Medicine anesthesiology chair and Shands at UF Board Quality Committee chair, “Every single person – nurses, unit clerks, physicians, residents, administrators, cooks, painters, therapists, transport team members, technicians – anyone who wears a Shands or UF badge, whether they have direct patient care or not, must be an important part of the goal to ensure that every patient receives exactly the right care, every time.”
We are already making tremendous strides and will continue to do so with a shared purpose and focus.
In this spirit, and under the Forward Together theme of the UF&Shands Strategic Plan, we have a Quality Action Plan. This edition of The Q Report will focus on elements of this plan:
- Put patients first
- Increase transparency about patient safety across our organization
- Recruit a Chief Quality Officer
- Align goals, effort and incentives around patient care outcomes
- Develop the skill sets of our Physician Directors of Quality (PDQs) and other champions
- Develop Interdisciplinary Clinical and Academic Programs (ICAPs)
- Conduct leadership rounding
- Develop a funding mechanism for small projects related to patient safety and quality
Thank you for your support of our quality and safety goals and our commitment to improving care and service for our patients so that they have an outstanding experience at UF&Shands.