Process maps are a useful tool for focusing your efforts and saving valuable time. Senior Value Engineer Luca Boi explains how this team-based tool harnesses the power of visual thinking to help clarify complex processes.
Value culture encourages us to look for and resolve our day-to-day problems and inefficiencies by asking, “What’s the pebble in my shoe?” But what happens when the pebble is in the patient’s shoe? Recent biomedical engineering grad Kyler Hodgson, operations manager Sarah Burton, and gastroenterology chief John Fang share how listening to patients can result in solutions that meet patient needs.
Sharing what you learned from your improvement project is the final step in the evidence-based practice (EBP) process.
Many people ask, “What am I supposed to report?” or “Does this count?” Hospitalist Ryan Murphy explains the basic vocabulary of patient safety event reporting, informing the way we recognize harm and identify and report threats to safety.
The practice of medicine is recognized as a high-risk, error-prone environment. Anesthesiologist Candice Morrissey and internist and hospitalist Peter Yarbrough help us understand the importance of building a supportive, no-blame culture of safety.
Why do some organizations thrive during a crisis while others flounder? Iona Thraen, director of patient safety, joined forces with her ARUP Laboratory colleagues to learn how the world-renowned national reference lab adapted to the pandemic. Leaders created a culture of safety by putting innovation, learning, and patient-centered care at the heart of all their efforts.
Almost one year ago the novel coronavirus turned longstanding educational approaches on their heads. Savvy educators responded to the challenge. Learn how U of U Health Medical School faculty pivoted to online learning in just three days, improving long-term education decision-making along the way.
Director Lora Stratton details how Utah’s Cardiovascular Center leveraged team creativity and rapid problem solving to make—and sustain—the shift to virtual care. Cardiologist Anu Abraham shares what it looks like in practice.
Anesthesiology techs are essential to the care team, but they are challenged by high turnover. Anesthesia resident Michael Van Tienderen, who was a tech for seven years before going to medical school, worked with fellow resident Matt O’Neal, anesthesiologist Emily Drennan, and senior value engineer Cindy Spangler to develop a lasting solution focused on culture change and career growth for these crucial care team members.
“This is why I went into medicine—to talk to my patients and show them humanity.” In the rapid day-to-day clinical setting, that’s harder to find. Utah Advanced Communication Training (UACT) provides practical tools to enhance patient and peer interactions.
No one likes to be the bearer of bad news—but in health care, it’s part of the job. Fortunately, there’s a simple framework to help us get through it. Hospitalist and UACT co-director Claire Ciarkowski introduces SPIKES: a simple mnemonic for delivering bad news.
Finding evidence to change the status quo isn’t easy; thinking about evidence in terms of how it persuades—whether subjective or objective—can make it easier. Plastic surgery resident Dino Maglić and his colleagues followed their guts and saved money by improving the laceration trays used to treat patients in the emergency department.
