The Power of Change

In the Q

The power of change

By Randy Harmatz

Randy-Harmatz-CQOChange is hard. Not because we don’t want to change and improve but because we are impatient with how much time and effort it takes to change a process and make it stick. But that’s where the need to connect and collaborate comes in. Making change doesn’t need to be that hard, especially here within UF&Shands. There are team members all around us who have the same goal — to provide the highest-quality and safest care to our patients.

There are numerous examples across our organization where teams working together do what was once thought impossible to make changes. A great example is the Inpatient  Transport team that decided that transporting inpatients for an outpatient service placed our patients at risk. Through interdisciplinary teamwork, new processes and collaboration, the team was able to reduce transports sevenfold.

And because of these efforts, we are all connecting the dots by together improving the patient experience, reducing harm, reducing variation and creating a culture of safety. Change isn’t easy and it takes time, but together we can make a difference.