September 19, 2011
“If the OR is the engine that drives the hospital, anesthesia is the engine that drives the OR – but who is at the wheel? On average, the operating room accounts for up to 70% of hospital revenue; if the OR doesn’t succeed as a business, neither does the hospital. You have likely designated a team and set goals for recruiting surgeons and increasing surgical volume. More than that, you’ve made sure the correct team members are in place and have empowered them to drive the process they are responsible for. However, many hospitals have not taken those same basic steps to ensure the success of their OR suite.
When an OR is underperforming, it is rarely because members of the surgical team aren’t up to their jobs. What’s missing is almost always OR leadership; a competent individual with the tools, experience and authority to drive success. “Leadership” means an accountable point person who manages roles and responsibilities, understands the greater goals of the hospital, and creates a culture that thrives on change/improvement. Historically, successful perioperative directors have come from a variety of disciplines including; nursing, operations and anesthesia. Regardless of the individuals particular path of ascension, there are common themes in excellence that have been uncovered which will be discussed in the following whitepaper.”
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Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Leadership, Operating rooms | No Comments
May 30, 2011
“The lack of systematic oversight of physician performance has led to some serious cases related to physician competence and behaviour. We are currently implementing a hospital-wide approach to improve physician oversight by incorporating it into the hospital credentialing process. Our proposed credentialing method involves four systems: (1) a system for monitoring and reporting clinical performance; (2) a system for evaluating physician behaviour; (3) a complaints management system; and (4) an administrative system for maintaining documentation. In our method, physicians are responsible for implementing an annual performance assessment program. The hospital will be responsible for the complaints management system and the system for collecting and reporting relevant health outcomes. Physicians and the hospital will share responsibility for monitoring professional behaviour. Medical leadership, effective governance, appropriate supporting information systems and adequate human resources are required for the program to be successful. Our program is proactive and will allow our hospital to enhance safety through a quality assurance framework and by complementing existing safety activities. Our program could be extended to non-hospital physicians through regional health or provider networks. Central licensing authorities could help to coordinate these programs on a province- or state-wide basis to ensure uniformity of standards and to avoid duplication of efforts.”
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Leadership, Process improvement, Quality control, Quality improvement, Safety | No Comments
