In an organization as big as U of U Health, it’s hard to know where our work fits into the big picture. System Planning Manager Cassandra Taft highlights five ways teams can meaningfully contribute to Operational Plan priorities, regardless of job role or responsibility.
Utilization Review is a necessary, but oftentimes messy process that ensures patients are receiving the most appropriate care in the most appropriate setting. Jenny Tuan, hospitalist and medical director of Utilization Review, dissects what UR is all about, including confusing gray areas and sticky pain points.
Every Thanksgiving, Accelerate’s Marcie Hopkins makes not just one, but multiple pies to enjoy. To maximize efficiency, she teamed up with Farmington manager Matt Sanford to design the perfect process. And—of course—there’s a health care application as well.
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.
Hospitalist Ryan Murphy introduces quality improvement (QI): The systematic and continuous approach to improvement.
Every summer, Utahns head to the mountains for camping, biking, rafting and other activities. And every summer, many a family is left without a stove, or a helmet, or a…because it was left at home. Thrill-seeker and value engineer Cindy Spangler wants to prevent your next packing mishap with a customized camping checklist.
In the beginning, there was High Reliability Thanksgiving. Then came High Reliability Camping and High Reliability Gift Wrapping. Now, manager Brittany Patterson takes on your vacation planning fears: Disney World, the high reliability way.
Safety as a value requires a cultural shift, not just getting people to talk about patient safety but to know how it impacts everything we do. U of U Health’s Director of Patient Safety Iona Thraen draws from the personal to highlight a system-based approach for moving from reactive to proactive patient safety.
What can we do right now to make our work environment better? Chief Wellness Officer and family medicine physician Amy Locke shares a simple team-based model for identifying opportunities, sorting what’s feasible and impactful, and empowering the frontline to lead change.
What is “Value Management” and why should you care? It's how University of Utah Health systematically improves the quality of care delivered to patients—and its never been more important as we redesign care during a pandemic. Chief Quality Officer Sandi Gulbransen shares the seven tenets of Value Management that guide our work.
Senior Value Engineer Luca Boi translates Lean lessons in culture building from Hollywood’s big screen to our everyday lives.
Making tough decisions about our health can be overwhelming, especially when we must navigate inadequate resources, foreign terminology, and conflicting information. Clinical Programs Administrator Darrin Doman discusses the importance of patient education and explains how to overcome common obstacles and improve patient education.