Leveraging Environmental Intelligence, Inspiration, & Creativity

Healthcare organizations are patterns of energy, webs of human conversations and decisions. Think about this reality; relationships and interactions are the ‘genetic code’ of healthcare quality, people are not just individuals but rather individuals standing in the middle of many relationship systems.

Healthcare organizations are patterns of energy, webs of human conversations and decisions. Think about this reality; relationships and interactions are the ‘genetic code’ of healthcare quality, people are not just individuals but rather individuals standing in the middle of many relationship systems. When people change their part of the relationship pattern, the organizations quality pathway changes. A major obstacle on the pathway to quality improvement is the failure to leverage emotional intelligence elements of; self-awareness, self-integration and ability to self-regulate in the asking of questions that will lead to a deeper exploration of quality assumptions we make.

From my experiences at the operational level, policy-making level and national patient safety planning level, the organizational capacity for naming elephants in the room, i.e. talking about tough quality issues that no one talks about, is a common characteristic and behaviour in a healthcare organization with extraordinary adaptability.

Asking questions is a proficient self-management tool to keep us focused on the bigger quality picture. As a formal and informal leader, there’s a responsibility to your healthcare team and healthcare organization.

Offered are four sample sets of quality questions for your consideration.

Questions For All Health System Players

 

1. Do we treat vision and mission as noble ideas that we ignore in our everyday actions?

2. Do we congratulate ourselves based on short-term quality results achieved at the expense of long-term quality sustainability?

3. Do we ask ourselves this key question: What behaviour have I tolerated in myself or others that conflict with my commitment to quality of care?

Questions About Healthcare Organizational Governance

1. Do boards make it clear that the adoption of quality improvement practices is a core expectation?

2. How do boards articulate their quality goals and expectations, and how do they communicate their commitments to their organization?

3. To what extent are board resource allocations, priorities and decisions focused on improving quality?

Questions For Healthcare Executives and Managers

1. When quality incidents occur, are there formal processes for turning them into learning opportunities?

2. Does the culture signal that improvement is a core organizational value and an integral part of front- line work?

3. Are there processes in place to identify and address unjustifiable variations in practice, and are  clinical peers jointly accountable for overall quality performance within their control?

Questions About Professional Cultures and Values

1.What is the hierarchy of values among care professionals and does quality trump other professional values such as autonomy and group loyalty?

2. Are professionals concerned about a broader unit or organizational performance, and do they view variations in quality practice as inherent danger signs?

3. Do professionals perceive advanced transparent health information gathering and analysis as core elements of their identity?

A healthcare culture of quality improvement is an emergent property and as such the human beings who created it can change it. If a change in a change in your quality improvement culture is desirable, change the conversations. Healthcare people are capable of brilliance. To maximize quality effectiveness, take advantage of the skills, talents and potentialities of everyone.

Changing the quality of social patterns of interaction and the degree of participation, overcomes the intellectual, emotional and systemic barriers that exist to tapping emotional intelligence, inspiration and creativity – pathways to quality improvement!

REFERENCES:

Short, R. “Learning In Relationship.” Learning In Action Technologies Inc. 1998

MacLeod, H.B. “Humanizing Leadership.” FriesenPress, 2019.

MacLeod, H.B., Lewis, S. “Asking the Unaskable -Thinking the Unthinkable.” Longwoods Healthcare Quarterly, Vol.15 No.1, 2012.

Gilbert, G, Malik, B. “The Beautiful Lie.” Hospitals & Health Network Digital Magazine, 2010

ISQua Expert & Member, Hugh MacLeod retired as CEO of the Canadian Patient Institute in 2015. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of the School of Population & Public Health at the University of British Columbia.

Hugh has recently published his first book ‘HUMANIZING LEADERSHIP: Reflection Fuels, People Matter, Relationships Make the Difference’ which has been described as ‘Candid, concise, and skillfully delivered leadership advice.’

Registration for ISQua’s 37th International Conference in Florence, Italy (30 August – 2 September 2020) is now open, and discounted rates are available for Early Bird registrants, ISQua Members, applicants from low-income countries, and students. Please visit the conference webpage to find out more – https://www.isqua.org/events/florence-2020.html.

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Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

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Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

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Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

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Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

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Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

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