Clinical teams learn quality improvement methods

Continuous quality improvement has been key to the success of manufacturers for decades. Famously, the methods W. Edwards Deming taught Japanese manufacturers after World War II helped propel that nation from utter destruction to a place among the elite of world manufacturing.

With national attention focused so strongly on health care, the interest in quality improvement in health care is expanding exponentially. The Institute for World Class Care is CareOregon's effort to support and provide assistance in spreading the techniques of quality improvement among our network of providers.

The Institute for World Class Care is modeled after Intermountain Healthcare's renowned Advanced Training Program (ATP). CareOregon blended ideas from Intermountain's ATP with an internal Accelerated Process Improvement (API) program to create the Institute. Participants in the Institute select, complete and report the results of an improvement project.

By the end of 2010, about 60 percent of CareOregon staff will have participated in the Institute training and have completed a quality improvement project. Similar training has been held for participants in CareOregon’s Care Support and System Integration program (see related story).

The Institute for World Class Care offers Prescribed Credits for Coaches by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). It is recommended for interdisciplinary teams consisting of:

• Physicians
• Senior leaders
• Middle management
• Front-line health professionals

The Institute kicked off last fall with teams from Albertina Kerr Centers, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare and Metropolitan Pediatrics. Teams in the inaugural class came prepared with process improvement projects they’d identified for their own organizations. Three days of training for coaches and two days of training for team members at CareOregon’s Learning Commons provided foundational skills for process improvement.

“The Institute’s curriculum provides clinical and non-clinical staff a real opportunity to learn the fundamentals of process improvement,” says Yedda Trawick, senior manager for CareOregon’s Operational Excellence department.

“They’ll dive deeper into real-world tools and techniques to manage multiple improvement projects. Finally, leaders will get the strategies they need to build a system of improvement that links to their organization’s business strategy.”

In January, the current Institute teams will come back together to share the results of the work they’ve done on their projects since the training.

The Institute is seeking its second class for Level I training. Quality improvement teams from CareOregon network organizations are invited to apply. The session starts Feb. 23 with an all-day session to train the team’s coaches, followed by an all-day session with the whole team Feb. 25. Other half-day sessions follow in subsequent months.

Accreditation

The Institute for World Class Care has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 13.25 Prescribed credits for Teams and 14.25 Prescribed credits for Coaches by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as prescribed credit, not as Category 1.

Course fee and what is included

The fee for the course is $1,500 per team of 3 to 7 members. The fee includes:

• Training for both teams and coaches
• Invitation to attend the satellite broadcast of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Annual National Forum
• All program materials, tools and literature (including a copy for each participant of Jim Collins’ Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great, and a copy for each team of Gerald J. Langley’s The Improvement Guide.)
• Continental breakfasts and lunches
• Conference calls and coaching by faculty as needed

For questions and more information e-mail learning@careoregon.org or telephone Yedda Trawick at 503-416-3691.

REGISTRATION FORM and SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

You may download the registration form and scholarship application.

Bring quality improvement processes to YOUR clinic

CareOregon is recruiting a second group of teams to participate in the Institute for World Class Care. Classes for the team leaders (coaches) will be February 23, March 23 (half day) and April 20 (half day). Classes for the full teams will be February 25, March 25 (half day) and May 27 (half day). The Institute is located in the CareOregon Learning Commons, 315 SW Fifth Ave., Portland, Ore.

Continuous education and quality improvement is a hallmark of the best health care systems in the world. The Institute for World Class Care is working toward capturing that dynamic here in Oregon.

Participants are introduced to the Model for Improvement, which provides a fundamental structure for making improvements in a clinical setting.

In this program, individuals with no process improvement experience will gain the basic skills to perform small tests of change. Others who have experienced process improvement will find that this program provides further grounding of critical process improvement principles.

Participating teams must have:

• Three to seven members
• An identified small-scope improvement project
• Executive sponsorship
• An internal trained coach who will facilitate the work of the team (coaches’ training is provided before the team’s training session)

Teams will learn how to:

• Lead an effective clinical process-improvement effort
• Apply P-D-S-A as a quality improvement tool
• Select and apply specific quality tools (charts, diagrams, and more)
• Understand self and others in conflict to support team dynamics
• Develop a plan of action to transfer lessons to self/team/clinic
• Outline implementation plan for holding gains