NAHQ’s annual conference, once again offered in a virtual format, provided healthcare leaders an opportunity to learn and strengthen their personal toolbox with competencies, processes and lessons learned from others to build quality across the healthcare spectrum.
Acknowledging that “it has been another year of relentless challenges and an abundance of new opportunities for delivering ever higher levels of quality and value”; NAHQ President Marian Savage challenged attendees to engage, learn and then make a continued commitment to quality.
Two key takeaways:
- Resources are available – Information that was referenced is supported by the NAHQ Healthcare Quality Competency Framework™ found at https://nahq.org/quality-competencies/quality-competencies/
- Culture matters – There was a great deal of focus on the importance of culture and aligning strategically to successfully build processes that support quality across the healthcare continuum.
Several points speakers made throughout the conference:
- The profession of healthcare quality has arrived at the intersection where “preparation meets opportunity.” Several speakers brought this point home as they shared their experiences during the pandemic and described innovation, agility and “outside the box” thinking that has proven successful for coordinating quality care during the pandemic.
- When an organization moves from “checking a compliance box” to building quality strategies – all aspects of the organization must align to be successful, including the use of technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which can help unlock the potential to improve healthcare.
- For organizations to be competitive in the future, we must continue to invest in our people — having the “right people doing the right work.”
- Quality is like a flower garden – we must take whatever “soil” we’re given and learn to “water/fertilize” when needed, or “transplant” if necessary to survive and thrive in an environment like we’ve seen during the pandemic.
- Time shouldn’t be spent on just “gathering material data” but on important stuff – the “action needed” to move forward. To build a high reliability organization, culture must be embedded in quality and quality must be embedded in culture.
All in all, I was challenged to continue to provide support for our healthcare partners as they continue to build a culture that supports safety and aligns with high reliability processes. It was reassuring to see Inspirien’s Rethink Risk journey validated as it aligns very closely with this thinking.
For more information about NAHQ, visit www.nahq.org or for more information on how our Inspirien team can support your healthcare quality journey, visit our website at www.inspirien.net or contact one of our Risk Consultants at riskmanagement@inspirien.net or 1-800-821-9605.
Article Contributed by Debbie Franklin, Risk Consultant for Inspirien