Themes for Healthcare Improvement

Whether you are looking for a keynote address, a call to action, a webinar, an evidence-based lecture, or a skill-building workshop, you’ll find options available. Here is a sampling of themes that Marc T. Edwards, MD, MBA can package and deliver to support improvement efforts, individually or in a series. We can readily develop a customized program to fit your specific needs. As demonstrated in the workshop examples, depending on the audience and your objectives, content might integrate several of these themes.

  • Presentations can be wide-ranging or focused according to the need. They can provide as much audience interaction and involvement as might be desired. For most groups, 60-90 minutes is ideal to cover a topic in meaningful depth.
  • Webinars typically work best in a 30-60 minute format to introduce new ideas.
  • Half-day Workshops structure ample time for serious learners to gain the knowledge and confidence needed to lead change in their organizations.

Presentations

These programs have been been delivered on many occasions to groups of physician leaders at individual hospitals and the American College of Physician Executives, as well as to various state hospital associations including the Michigan Health & Hospital Association Patient Safety and Quality Symposium

Organizational Learning for Quality and Safety

The collaborative model has dominated improvement efforts. Greater attention to the under-developed modes of organizational learning may foster more rapid progress in patient safety by increasing organizational capabilities, strengthening a culture of safety, and fixing more of the process problems that contribute to patient harm.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the primary modes of organizational learning
  • Identify high pay-back steps you can take to improve learning in your organization

Removing Barriers to High Reliability

Most healthcare leaders have failed to deliver on their responsibility to accelerate progress towards safe, reliable care. They continue to overlook the lessons of the Quality revolution of the 1970s. This presentation will help leaders identify the high-leverage opportunities for change.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the critical success factors for high reliability in healthcare
  • Identify ways in which you can accelerate progress toward high reliability in your organization

Engaging Physicians and Nurses in Patient Safety through Self-Reporting of Adverse Events and Better Event Review Processes

Healthcare leaders have come to recognize the need for better clinician engagement in patient safety and quality improvement. Leverage for change is available now. This 90 minute interactive session offers the latest thinking and draws practical lessons from aviation industry success and 3 national studies of clinical peer review practice.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the value of self-reporting of adverse events and hazardous conditions for clinical quality and safety improvement
  • Promote self-reporting by establishing a federally-protected Patient Safety Evaluation System
  • Delineate the factors accounting for the impact of peer review on clinical quality and safety
  • Understand basic principles of clinical performance measurement

Clinical Peer Review: An Improvement Opportunity

National studies have characterized a QI model for clinical peer review that simultaneously produces no blame and accountability, more effectively contributes to quality and patient safety, and better meets the intention of Joint Commission standards for focused and ongoing professional practice evaluation. This 90 minute interactive session will engage physician leaders in a vision of possibilities and help crystallize enthusiasm for change.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the factors accounting for the impact of peer review on clinical quality and safety
  • Apply a practical model for transforming clinical peer review in your organization

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Webinars

The first 5 programs illustrated here were presented in a series for the Hospital Council of Central and Northern California. The second program was adapted to serve the needs of the Maine Medical Association.

Engaging Physicians and Nurses in Patient Safety through Self-Reporting of Adverse Events and Better Event Review Processes

The absence of clinician engagement in patient safety and quality improvement is disturbing and bodes poorly for the system changes that will be required for success in a reformed healthcare environment. While the problem is multi-factorial, leverage for change is available now. This presentation for healthcare executives, including nursing managers and physician leaders, will explore how the Patient Safety Act provides a vehicle for healthcare to model the success of the aviation industry in getting pilots to self-report hazardous conditions.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the value of self-reporting of adverse events and hazardous conditions for clinical quality and safety improvement
  • Promote self-reporting by establishing a federally-protected Patient Safety Evaluation System and improving your event review processes

What’s Your ROI for Clinical Peer Review?

Two National studies show that most programs fall short of their potential to impact quality and safety. What’s worse, most hospitals have yet to apply basic quality improvement principles to clinical peer review program management. Organizational culture also plays an important role. This presentation for hospital leaders and trustees will coach the leadership to ask the questions that will facilitate change.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the factors accounting for the impact of clinical peer review on quality and safety
  • Catalyze clinical peer review program improvement in your organization

No Blame and Accountability

In the pursuit of a culture of safety, healthcare leaders are confused by the advice to balance “No Blame” and individual accountability. Currently, most organizations do poorly with both. In truth, when properly understood, accountability and “No Blame” are compatible. This 1 hour webinar for hospital leaders will demonstrate how it is not only possible, but necessary to build a culture in which both these values prevail.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Deeply appreciate the role of leadership in crafting a culture of safety
  • Foster both “No Blame” and individual accountability in your organization

Learning from a QI Model for Clinical Peer Review

National studies demonstrate the emergence of a QI model for clinical peer review that balances no blame with accountability, more effectively contributes to quality and patient safety, and better meets the intention of Joint Commission standards for focused and ongoing professional practice evaluation. This presentation for physician and nurse leaders will include a self-evaluation, highlight key process improvement opportunities, and offer practical advice for program change. The lessons have broad application for quality and safety management.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the factors accounting for the impact of peer review on clinical quality and safety
  • Apply a practical model for transforming clinical peer review in your organization

Measuring Clinical Performance during Peer Review

Explicit, objective measures of clinical performance, such as CMS Core Measures, evaluate a small proportion of care delivered to patients. Nursing and physician leaders, as well as QI professionals, would benefit from a deeper understanding of measurement theory and its application to creating reliable subjective measures of clinical performance that can be easily evaluated in concert with clinical peer review activity. These methods are applicable to all disciplines. They support the transition to a QI Model for clinical peer review. They can also contribute important data to focused and ongoing professional practice evaluation. This 1 hour webinar will provide an introduction to measurement theory and guidance for developing useful subjective clinical performance measures.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Understand the principles of measurement theory
  • Develop reliable subjective measures of clinical performance for use in your organization

Minimizing Bias in Clinical Peer Review

Clinical peer review has the potential to be a powerful tool in support of quality and patient safety. That potential can be seriously limited by the various biases to which the process is subject. This 1 hour webinar will look at the sources of bias in peer review and offer practical strategies to minimize their effect.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Understand basic principles of clinical performance measurement
  • Take steps to minimize bias in the clinical peer review process in your organization

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Workshops

Improving Clinical Peer Review

National studies have characterized a QI model for clinical peer review that simultaneously produces no blame and accountability, more effectively contributes to quality and patient safety, and better meets the intention of Joint Commission standards for focused and ongoing professional practice evaluation. This half-day interactive workshop for physician and nurse leaders will include a program self-evaluation, highlight key process improvement opportunities, and offer practical advice for orchestrating change. It will also address methods for measuring clinical performance and minimizing bias in the review process.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Describe the factors accounting for the impact of peer review on clinical quality and safety
  • Apply a practical model for transforming clinical peer review in your organization
  • Understand basic principles of clinical performance measurement
  • Take steps to minimize bias in the clinical peer review process in your organization

Building a Culture of Safety

This half-day workshop will emphasize leadership’s role in shaping organizational culture by taking a fresh look at how to engage clinicians in the work of improving patient safety. It will focus on methods of event reporting and analysis that uncover and deal with improvement opportunities in a collegial, blame-free environment, while simultaneously holding providers accountable for their behavioral choices. It will highlight lessons learned from 3 national studies of clinical peer review process effectiveness.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation you will be able to:

  • Deeply appreciate the role of leadership in crafting a culture of safety
  • Promote self-reporting of adverse events and hazardous conditions
  • Improve your event analysis processes
  • Foster both “No Blame” and individual accountability in your organization

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