Quoteworthy
We’re solution generators. We want to implement a million things right away, but what we don't do is pause, take a moment, and say, 'Let's define the problem.'
Tom Varghese

Most Recent
Stop Waiting and Start Working: Four Tips from the Help Desk

We all do it. We draw a blank on our password, get locked out of login, “…duo what?” and so on. And then we wait for a University of Utah Health service desk saint who makes our machine work again. To help lighten their load a bit—and make our lives easier—we asked ITS Manager Mike Madsen for his “Top 4” preventive measures to avoid a call.

How to Prepare for Patient Design Studio and Advise Utah

Patient Experience Program Coordinator Corrie Harris and Project Administrator Emily Izzo explain how to get valuable patient feedback early in your improvement efforts by meeting with the U of U Health Patient Design Studio and Advise Utah.

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.

High Reliability Camping

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.

Coping with Medical Error: Secondary Trauma

When a medical error occurs, the patient is not the only person affected. Pediatric intensivist Brian Flaherty and psychologist Megan Call describe how caregivers can be impacted by medical error and provide strategies to cope.

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.

How to Solve Complex Problems

From the simple to the complex, problems plague our daily work. Quality Improvement experts Luca Boi and Ryan Murphy provide brief lessons and resources covering important problem solving techniques so you can develop solutions and make improvements.

The "How To" of Problem Solving: Strategies for Facilitating Continuous Improvement

Problems—we all have them. From the simple to the complex, they plague our daily work. Quality Improvement experts Luca Boi and Carolyn Brayko provide brief lessons and simple exercises on problem solving techniques so you can develop solutions and make improvements.

Moving from Reactive to Proactive: Safety 2.0

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 Happens When Reliable Isn’t Reliable?

Senior value engineer Cindy Spangler is back to share how a few simple improvement tips enable processes to reach new levels of reliability.

Seven Principles of Value Management at University of Utah Health

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.

How To Put WellCheck Feedback to Work (For You and Your Team)

Feedback is a gift—even when it doesn’t feel like it. Senior Director of Care Navigation Stacy Silwany teams up with Organizational Development’s Michael Danielson to share how Care Navigation uses WellCheck survey data to learn from and engage employees in making the workplace better.