Quoteworthy
When there is a standardized process, we can also provide more efficient, knowledgeable care. When someone collapses from a heart attack, providers know what to do. We must achieve the same level of competence, confidence, and comfort when someone expresses suicidal thoughts
Rachael Jasperson

Most Recent
Office Eating Culture

You are what you eat: eating habits and food choices in the workplace can impact your well-being and productivity. Wellness program manager Britta Trepp and nutrition specialist Helen Hardy shares how to cultivate and build a healthy and positive office eating culture.

Holiday Procrastination is Not Your Friend

Believe it or not, the holidays have arrived. But have no fear, Senior Value Engineer Cindy Spangler is here with three steps you can take to carve out time now and avoid the woes of the holiday rush.

Words Matter: Words that Wound vs. Words that Soothe

Our words can build, or erode, trust with others. Manager of Patient Experience Operations Ember Hunsaker offers insight into how our words may be helping, or harming, those around us and how to balance the scales.

How to Turn a Gut Feeling into a QI Project

Your gut tells you a process could be better than it is—how do you back that feeling up with hard data? Senior value engineer Luca Boi shows how undertaking a baseline analysis can jumpstart your improvement project.

Be Mindful and Educate Yourself: Black Patient Voices

The crises of Covid-19 and police brutality have highlighted systemic racial inequity in the United States and the need to consciously dismantle the forces that cause racial health disparities. PA students Scarlett Reyes and Jocelyn Cortez brought together Black patients at the University of Utah to share their experiences. Their advice: build cultural competence and be mindful of microaggressions.

How to Conduct a Rapid Critical Appraisal

Performing a rapid critical appraisal helps evaluate a study for its worth by ensuring validity, meaningful data, and significance to the patient. Contributors Barb Wilson, Mary Jean Austria, and Tallie Casucci share a checklist of questions to complete a rapid critical appraisal efficiently and effectively.

How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable

To disagree means failing to agree. Synonyms include to contradict, challenge or debate. Synonyms do not also have to include to argue, quarrel, dispute, bicker or clash. Pediatric intensivist Jared Henricksen shares the best path forward when words become clouded with emotion.

Building Our Digital Literacy

How are we building digital literacy? Chief Information Officer Donna Roach and Sr. Director of Patient Experience Mari Ransco share how using design thinking and seeing care through the eyes of our patients is a great place to start.

What Improvement Taught Me About Gardening

Every summer, senior value engineer Cindy Spangler stocks our offices with an abundance of tomatoes, zucchini, and squash. We asked her to share how improvement thinking influences her gardening. Turns out, there are parallels–learn from others, stick to your scope, and learn from the mistakes.

Designing the Digital Roadmap

How do you design a digital strategy? Chief Information Officer Donna Roach explains that it all begins with listening to your customer. Here, she guides us step-by-step through designing Utah’s digital roadmap.

Building the Future of Rural Care

Rural and frontier communities have a harder time accessing care due to long distances and a shortage of medical resources in their own communities. The leaders of the Rural & Underserved Utah Training Experience (RUUTE) program, Kylie Christensen (medical school) and Sri Koduri (residency programs/GME), share what they’ve learned about improving access for rural communities now and into the future.

Zero Suicide - How Do We Get There?

The Zero Suicide initiative has been shown to significantly reduce suicides—and working toward zero suicides is our mission. Rachael Jasperson, Zero Suicide program manager, shares the framework for how we strive for this aspirational goal.