Do you really want my feedback?
Posted: December 3, 2018 Filed under: Change, Disruptive Behavior, Health and Care Radicals, Hope, Hospital, Leadership, Making a Difference, Patient, Patient Experience, speaking up | Tags: Feedback, Healthcare, Hospitals, Leadership, Patient Experience Leave a commentI had a routine GI procedure three weeks ago. You know the drill; “after the prep, the procedure is a piece of cake…”
That one!
I had a great experience. The results were clean and benign! The staff were friendly, the center was clean, the nurses were kind and professional and explained everything well. The doctor was personable and had an appropriate (enjoyable for me) sense of humor. Everything ran on time and my ‘competent adult’ escort got me home before lunch time – I was starving!
Life quickly returned to its ‘pre-prep’ normalcy and the procedure was a distant memory. Or so I thought…
This morning a 37-question paper survey arrived in our mail box, asking me to share my “thoughts and feelings”.
My immediate reaction of wanting to recycle this piece of ‘junk mail’ was curtailed by my morbid curiosity to re-examine this antiquated and ineffective means of gathering feedback.
Do our hospital and health system leaders really believe that this is an effective way to gather feedback about my experience of the care that I received? I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning and you’re asking me to rate the “Attractiveness of the Surgery Center” from three weeks ago.
This is absurd on so many levels!
I really don’t recall how attractive the surgery center was, nor do I really care.
I care that your staff were kind, compassionate and didn’t keep me waiting. I care that you knew who I was and did the correct procedure on me. I care that you explained what you were doing to me and that you all seem to know what each other was doing, apparently enjoyed working together, had the equipment to do your jobs safely and effectively and seemed to be committed to taking care of me as a priority.
Listen. If you really want my feedback, if you really want to know my thoughts and feelings, do what our vet does after my dogs have a visit; call me that night or the next morning. If I’m not available chat with my wife (she was the competent adult that picked me up…), trust me, she will know whether my experience with you, your facility and your caregivers was anything other than stellar.
This would also allow you to determine whether I was suffering any post-procedure discomfort or pain. That call would also be an appropriate time to ask me whether I had any questions about the procedure and you could remind me about any follow up that I needed to remember.
If you can’t afford the time for a person to make a call, then send me a text or an email with half a dozen quick questions. In fact, that might be better, then you’d have the real time data to inform any changes to your operations or any service recovery for your patients.
The 80’s called, they would like their survey back!
We can do better than this, our patients and caregivers deserve better than this!
P.s. send the pager and fax machine back too…
The Secret Sits – Part 2
Posted: August 17, 2018 Filed under: Accountability, Audactity, Change, Health and Care Radicals, Hope, Hospital, Leadership, Making a Difference, Patient, Patient Experience Leave a commentIn the first blog in this series I shared Robert Frost’s poem “The Secret Sits”
“We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.”
I suggested that the “Secret” is the person at the center of care. The patient, their family, and their caregivers are sitting “in the middle” and knowing what they need and want but they lack effective ways of sharing this, and provider organizations’ currently have ineffective means of capturing this feedback.
In the second and final part of this series, “The Secret” and Improving the Experience of Care, I offer some ideas for how leaders in healthcare can improve the usefulness of data capture to improve the patient experience.
I’d really appreciate any comments, feedback and other ideas that this post prompts.
The question remains, are you dancing around the ring and supposing, or are you listening to the secret?
Language and Hierarchy
Posted: July 30, 2015 Filed under: Accountability, Change, Holacracy, Leadership, Making a Difference, Personal Accountability, Perspective, Safety, Workplace Culture | Tags: Accountability, Clarity, Communication, culture of safety, Leadership, patient safety, Telluride Summer Camp Leave a commentThe language we use and the hierarchy that this supports is at the core of creating, leading, and sustaining a safe culture.
The words we use
Listening to the faculty and the future (students) at the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety (#AELPS11) over the past three days, I have heard several comments and engaged in more than one conversation regarding hierarchy, ego, and language as barriers to safe care.
During some of these discussions I heard myself and others say things like, “Communicate down to the housekeeper” and “escalate this up to the board”. While I think these comments are made with no malicious intent, and often find myself thinking and saying these things, I firmly believe that we need to be more mindful of what this “directional” language promotes.
When I listen to this language, I hear us unintentionally reinforce professional elitism. The language implies that the housekeeper is at “the bottom” of our organization and that the board member is at “the top”. Perhaps I’m reading too much into this but having served in both roles, and having been on the receiving end of these conversations for many years, I believe that this language promotes the belief that the housekeeper is at the bottom of the hierarchy and not an equal voice or participant on the care team. The more we think and speak like this, I believe, we are at risk of discounting the input of those at the lower end of the equation, as well as elevating opinions and ideas of those “at the top”, often at the expense of safe care to patients.
Listening to the team
One story we heard here was the tragic story of Lewis Blackman – a poignant reminder of the aforementioned point was the nutritionist recognizing that Lewis had not touched his food, and yet nutrition orders never changed. Did the nutritionist notice, and wonder why? Was he or she empowered to voice concern, and what might have happened had that been the case?
The care team in healthcare is made up of everyone that interacts, communicates and cares for the patient and their family. The professionals serving in the housekeeping department may spend more time in a patient’s room than many of the clinically trained team on any given day. Ensuring that these team members are engaged, respected, and listened to as valuable team members is a critical component of safe care.
Perhaps it is time that we re-think the structure and hierarchy of traditional healthcare environments
The need for a structure and redesign
I acknowledge that we need some organizing structure to run our teams and organize [lead] our organizations. That said, what we presently have in many healthcare organizations seems to be getting in the way of supporting an innovative, just, safe, learning culture.
In the words of Malcolm Gladwell from his book, What the Dog Saw, “If everyone had to think outside the box, maybe it was the box that needed fixing”. I am also reminded about the words of Don Berwick regarding system design, “Every system is perfectly designed to get the outcomes it is achieving”
It is fair to say that our current healthcare system, if designed to get the outcomes we’re getting (estimated 400,000 lives lost a year from preventable error) needs to be redesigned.
A different approach
I recently read about an alternate approach to organizing an organization, the idea is called Holacracy and was coined by Brian Robertson. This is an alternate way of running an organization, modeled on some concepts that are being adopted more and more by innovative, forward thinking leaders. For example, peer-to-peer business models have changed how we get from A to B (Uber) and have revolutionized finding a place to stay while on vacation (Airbnb). These “disruptive” companies have started re-thinking their internal structures and have abandoned traditional top-down hierarchies, controls and processes. This approach to running an organization removes power from a management hierarchy and distributes it across clear roles, which can then be executed autonomously, without a micromanaging supervisor.
What’s interesting is that instead of the anarchy and chaos that one might expect, the work is actually more structured than in a conventional company, it just looks much different. With Holacracy, there is still a clear set of rules and processes for how a team breaks up its work and defines its roles with clear responsibilities and expectations.
David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, summarizes adoption of this approach like this: “Holacracy is not a panacea: it won’t resolve all an organizations tensions and dilemmas. But, in my experience, it does provide the most stable ground from which to recognize, frame and address them.”
Perhaps we’re ready for a different way to organize and deliver healthcare. Perhaps we’re ready to rethink our hierarchies, controls and processes.
Perhaps healthcare is ready for a little Holacracy.
Critical Reminders from Day 1
Posted: July 28, 2015 Filed under: Human error, Leadership, Learning, Making a Difference, Safety, Uncategorized | Tags: Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety, Communication, culture of safety, Lessons learned, patient safety, Telluride Summer Camp 1 CommentReflecting on our first day of the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety and I am feeling blessed for the insights, the lessons and for the reminders.
Yesterday morning we watched the Lewis Blackman Story – we were fortunate to have Helen Haskell with us, Lewis’ mother, who graciously and bravely answered our questions, provided more insights and shared the reminder that this November marks the fifteen-year anniversary of the death of Lewis.
I’ve seen this video more than a few times and to be honest was thinking to myself that there was not much more to “learn”. How wrong was I?
Re-watching this emotional story I was abruptly reminded that the stories of communication failure, mis-diagnosis and poor communication are as real and relevant today as they were fifteen years ago, and that being reminded of the work ahead is critical to this effort of making patient care safer, more just, and more transparent.
I watched the video again, took new notes, re-read those notes, and listened to the story and the discussion. I heard things I hadn’t heard before, heard perspectives that I hadn’t paid attention to in the past, learned new lessons, and was left with a re-galvanized commitment to this difficult, rewarding, and necessary work.
In the work that I do with healthcare leaders to change culture, I hear and see a lot of conversations, interactions and exchanges. Having the ability to reflect on what I have heard or seen, either from reading my own notes, re-remembering my experiences, or having the story interpreted by someone with a different perspective, provides me renewed energy, fresh insights and ideas about alternate solutions.
Day 1 reminded me that re-visiting the stories, notes, videos, conversations and perspectives are some of the most powerful reminders of the work still ahead to change the world of patient safety.
Thank you Helen for the reminder.
Grassroots Change + Personal Accountability in Healthcare
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: Accountability, Change, Disruptive Behavior, Heretic, Leadership, Learning, Love, Making a Difference, Patient Experience, Personal Accountability, Perspective, Safety, Trust, Workplace Culture 1 CommentChange and personal accountability in health and care!
Standing on the shoulders of the rebels, the crazy ones, the trouble makers and the boat rockers – these are the folks that I am blessed to call my friends and my colleagues; these are the people that push the envelope for change, that embrace the hard work and the ones I love!
Here’s to Colin Hung, Linda Galindo, Helen Bevan, Tracy Granzyk, Dave Mayer, Michael Bennick, Paul Westbrook, Paul Levy, Katy Schuler, Steve Farber, Jake Poore, Diana Christiansen, Jason Wolf, Coleen Sweeney, Carol Santalcuia, Jason Gottlieb, Chris McCarthy, Kip Durney, Jim Rawson, Debra Barrath, and many, many more.
Changing the culture of healthcare takes a village of the committed, personally accountable, energetic, loving and audacious. I love these change agents!
Please join us on March 24th 20:30 EST (8:30 pm) on Twitter for a tweetchat #hcldr
Grassroots Change + Personal Accountability in Healthcare.
Leadership Lessons from Mike Dowling
Posted: January 26, 2015 Filed under: Accountability, Change, Leadership, Learning, Love, Making a Difference, Personal Accountability | Tags: Accountability, Clarity, Communication, Healthcare, Leadership, Lessons learned Leave a commentLast speaker of the day
Several years ago I found myself in the audience of a quality and safety conference at Harvard University. The last speaker of the day took the podium with little fanfare and no slides. What a welcome change…
With his very generous permission I’d like to share my memories and notes from that day, the lessons and leadership “keys” he shared then, ring true now, and continue to resonate with me.
Thanks Mike!
And now for something completely different…
Mike Dowling is the President and CEO of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (NSLIJHS). Prior to becoming president and CEO on January 1, 2002, Dowling was the health system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Mike served in New York State government for 12 years, including seven years as state director of Health, Education and Human Services and deputy secretary to former governor Mario Cuomo. He was also commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services. Before his public service career, Dowling was a professor of social policy and assistant dean at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services and director of the Fordham campus in Westchester County.
Mike presented at the Eleventh Quality and Safety Colloquium (Cambridge MA – August 14-16, 2012) – my notes summarize his comments. Without any slides, Mike shared “7 Keys” to creating a “Premiere Healthcare Organization” by stating, “NSLIJ is not there yet, but we are on a journey toward this, and I’d like to share it with you…
Have a coherent idea of where you want to end up – a clear VISION
- Not just the “what” but the “why”
- You must be able to engage EVERYONE’S head and heart in the VISION – in the “why…”
Have a positive attitude
- Be optimistic and believe that it is possible – a “can do” attitude
- Be responsible for outcomes and model personal accountability – “if it is to be it is up to me”
Have a complete commitment to transformation
- Be ready to think differently – we CANNOT be risk averse
- Be open minded – healthcare is NOT unique – exceptional, high-quality organizations are NOT industry specific
Engage and develop EVERYONE
- Lead a continuous culture of learning
- Be mindful of who you hire, who you promote, who you let go
- Remember: People + Values + Behaviors = SUCCESS
- Use simulation
- Make a core part of your curriculum mandatory
Manage Constituencies
- Break down silos and train people across disciplines
- Manage your board and medical staff
- Change how we do medical school training
Become deeply consumer focused
- Everyone you serve is more educated and informed than ever
- Expectations are constantly changing
COMMUNCIATION
- Constant communication of the “why” from #1
- Top down, bottom up, side to side
- Face to face, electronic, multi-media, print, etc. etc.
- You CANNOT over-communicate
Most of all – remember that:
- we do great work every day in healthcare!
- we have much to be proud of!
- we do make a difference!
Mike closed his remarks with the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm…”
Thank you Mike, you continue to inspire and encourage!
Leadership Lessons from a Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens
Posted: January 22, 2015 Filed under: Accountability, Change, Leadership, Learning, Love, Making a Difference | Tags: Accountability, brave, Leadership, taking risks Leave a commentAn Impressive Group
Full disclosure here – this is a story about my son, this is the guy that pushed his father to run a marathon this past fall, this is my little boy that is growing up, and (if all goes to plan) is headed off to college this fall. This is his story and I have to admit, my wife and I are bursting with pride!
This is a story of love, commitment, leadership and humility.
Bitten
Our son has been bitten by a bug so to speak. Not the bug of lethargy and complacency, that I think I feared might befall a high school senior, nor the bug of curfew breaking, and late night calls that could have accompanied a spirited, strong-willed eighteen year old. No, this is the bug of hard work, service, and a deep commitment to the welfare and happiness of others.
This however is not just his story, in fact, this is the remarkable part; this is the story of a group of high school aged “kids” that belong to the youth group at our church. Last summer, as they have in the past, this group gathered together (with support from the church and the community), to head to a place that was in need. Real need.
Fifteen strong, with adult chaperones, they boarded a flight to Glendora, Mississippi.
With each person’s luggage being kept to a minimum (carry-ons only), this allowed their checked bags to be filled with needed supplies: clothes, books, tools, dry foods and toys.
They committed to a deeply held belief that they are the accountable entities, and that if change was going to happen, they would have to act differently.
A Small Group
A small group of citizens, making a difference.
This, I figure, is living proof that Margaret Mead got it right when she stated “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
These children left their hometown of Ipswich, MA with a view of the world that likely didn’t stray far from three square meals a day, a warm bed at night, a school packed with supplies and resources, and summer vacations spent at the local beach.
They came home changed.
They came home sad, thoughtful, melancholy, inspired, committed and well and truly changed for the better.
They came home believing that with privilege comes responsibility, they came home with a strong commitment to want to use their talents to help those with less, they came home committed to go back!
This is a community with very few of the amenities and services that we take for granted. This is a community where the median household income is about $17,000 a year. Many of the children of Glendora found it difficult to believe that these 17 and 18 year olds were not parents and had not yet been incarcerated.
As our son told me, “Dad, I need to work with these people, alongside them, so that we learn from each other and share what we can. We have so much to share Dad, I don’t need all this, and I have to give back…”
This group spent a week building playgrounds, setting-up a library for local children, and crafted a summer camp curriculum that lives on. They spent their down-time walking the one-road town picking up trash, they cleaned up a neighborhood that remains grateful to this day.
They are living proof that change only happens when we embody it, act differently, and lead by example.
So this is their story, and they want to go back and do more. They believe in the power of a small group of committed citizens. They do not have the resources from their church or town and yet they remain committed to going back to their friends in Glendora, who believe in them.
I believe in them, we believe in our son.
Thank you for considering and supporting their efforts to raise funds for this trip. Herewith a link to their story and their fund raising effort.
Culture and Love – Safety Leadership Lessons from a Supermarket Chain
Posted: January 6, 2015 Filed under: Accountability, Change, Disruptive Behavior, Health and Care Radicals, Leadership, Learning, Love, Making a Difference, Perspective, Safety, Trust, Workplace Culture | Tags: Accountability, Communication, Leadership, taking risks 1 CommentCulture and Love – a story from 2014
As 2014 drew to a close last week many a news outlet spent time reflecting back on the highs and the lows of the past year. Whether framed as a “top 10 list” or presented more as the best and the worst, here in northeastern Massachusetts one particular story caught my ear.
This was the Market Basket Story, a tale of unparalleled employee unity and pride, and living proof that a small group of committed people can in fact make a difference.
If you’re unfamiliar with this particular tale, there was a real cast of characters; long-time feuding, wealthy family members, unfairly (some would argue) fired senior executives, passionate, committed employees, and deeply loyal customers.
Bottom line: local grocery-store chain CEO fired by cousin (hate each other) board member, employees (loyal is an understatement) outraged and walk off the job, stand-off ensues, employees rally for the fired CEO to be reinstated, customers stay away at the request of employees (and there are no supplies on the shelves) and eventually the fired CEO buys enough shares to take control of the company and is reinstated – celebrations all around and bonus checks for employees!
The news story that I heard a few days ago was celebrating the fact that the entire body of employees has been recognized as the Boston Globe’s “2014 Business Person of the Year”, and reflecting on the leadership of Arthur T. Demoulas, the reinstated CEO, making the statement “… he was reinstated along with his culture of generosity, kindness and caring.”
I love this statement! His Culture!
Think about the words, his culture. This is not an abstract, difficult to grasp concept – this is his, the way he leads, the way he works.
In our work to improve safety in healthcare the word ‘culture’ gets tossed around all too easily. It’s easy to blame the culture, almost as if doing so excuses the behavior. It rolls off the tongue as part of our standard vernacular, and is often the response to much of what ails us:
Q: “Why are some of your operating rooms using surgical checklists and others not?”
A: “That’s just the way we do things here, it’s our culture…”
Q: “What stopped you from speaking up when you saw your senior colleague acting in that rude, disrespectful manner?”
A: “That’s the culture on this team, keep your mouth shut and your head down…”
It strikes me that we cite or state culture as the root-cause of the problem because it creates the impression that fixing or changing it is nigh on impossible. That to tackle, change or create a new culture is a myth so complicated that we best not even try…
The Market Basket story annihilates this myth.
Health and care leaders listen up
Culture is the way we act as leaders. It is the tone we set, the expectations we communicate, and the behavior, language and performance that we tolerate.
Culture is the way we (you and I) do things. Do you want a communicative, fair, safe culture? Then communicate openly about the good, the bad and the ugly. Be fair with the people that choose to work in your organization, and with the way you make decisions (don’t interpret as treating everyone the same…), and model an environment where speaking up about your mistakes and owning them is celebrated not frowned upon.
Remember, if it is to be it is up to me.
His culture!
“His culture of generosity, caring and kindness.” The reporter goes on to interview Arthur T. (reinstated CEO) and he describes some additional tenets by which he runs his company, with fairness, justice, and connection to the human soul.
They’re running supermarkets people, and he’s talking about connecting to the human soul…
He nails it when he shares that the secret to this incredible story is to remember that they are, “… in the people business first, and the food business second.”
Health and care safety in 2015
People business first, medicine business second.
People is where our focus needs to be. Caring and healing our patients and their families, absolutely, it’s the calling that many of us responded to that finds us doing the work we do. But it needs to be more than this…
I propose that in 2015 we need our focus to be more on the people that provide this care – as leaders we need to make these people ‘the business that we are in.’ They will take care of their patients.
Commit to being in the people business first. The care givers; the nurses, the technicians, the physicians, the patient care attendants, the unit secretaries, the managers, the supervisors, the housekeepers, the pharmacists, the social workers and each other.
Provide the generosity, kindness, love, fairness and justice that connects them to their purpose, reminds them of their calling, and creates a safe environment for them to deliver the best care possible.
The reporter for the piece on Market Basket closed out the segment by suggesting that the Market Basket employee’s actions have presented other companies throughout the Commonwealth and around the world with a challenge of sorts – loyalty is one thing, these folks though clearly love where they work, and who they work for…
From loyalty to love!
Perhaps for 2016…
Pecha Kucha comes to IHI 26 Forum
Posted: December 11, 2014 Filed under: Change, Disruptive Behavior, Health and Care Radicals, Heretic, Leadership, Making a Difference, Pecha Kucha, Personal Accountability | Tags: Accountability, brave, culture of safety, Healthcare, Leadership, patient safety, speaking up, taking risks Leave a commentPecha Kucha!
“Bless you!” were the first words out of my mouth when I heard someone say peachakoocha during this week’s 26th annual Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Forum in Orlando, FL. On hearing the word, my 12-year-old daughter thinks it sounds like the name of a Pokemon character…
Weird word = wonderful experience
In a conference environment that can be all too often filled with long-winded PowerPoint presentations with presenters reading slides, this was an energizing and welcome change.
“PEH–cha KOO-cha,’’ is the English pronunciation, of what appears to be a rough translation of the Japanese word(s) for “chit chat’’. Picture an event akin to a poetry slam. A Pecha Kucha is where subject matter experts get together to share their work, opinions and beliefs, and get to hear from others. A fast paced opportunity to share, learn and be inspired.
Pecha Kucha started in 2003 in Tokyo and has since migrated to almost every country in the world. Originally designed to share ideas in design, architecture and photography, it has apparently now come to healthcare. There are now Pecha Kucha ‘nights’ in more than 300 cities around the world.
How does this work?
The Pecha Kucha at this weeks IHI meeting was hosted by Helen Bevan, Chief Transformation Officer for NHS Horizons Group (UK) who acted as host and ‘race marshal’. She explained to the audience what would happen, then welcomed each presenter to the podium, and then asked, “are you ready?”, setting their slides running for the ensuing sub seven minute presentation (6 minutes, 40 seconds)…
Presenters — there were 8 of them at the IHI — shared and narrated 20 slides for 20 seconds that “auto-ran”, meaning the presenter had no control over slide advancement, the slides roll…
The 20 x 20 format is at the core of a Pecha Kucha. The emphasis here is on speed! Can’t keep up, then you’re likely not ready for this rapid fire onslaught of ideas and inspiration.
What we witnessed at the IHI Forum was a Pecha Kucha focused on the theme of “my hope for the future of healthcare”. These were inspiring stories of why each presenter had been called to make a difference in healthcare and provided insights into specific projects that each of them were working on. Beautifully inspiring, brave, personal stories of commitments to lean in and make health and care safer, more accessible and more relationship driven; the triple aim is alive, well and thriving!
A refreshing change at a terrific conference. I commend Helen for leading this and congratulate the IHI for welcoming this imitation of a clearly different approach to sharing, learning and inspiring.
I’m a Pecha Kucha fan!
Check out this Pecha Kucha Storify
It really is a wonderful life
Posted: December 6, 2014 Filed under: Making a Difference, Mindset, Perspective Leave a commentLooking for a change in mind set or a new perspective? Take a moment to watch or re-watch the 1946 classic movie: It’s a Wonderful Life.
Jimmy Stewart and cast transport us back to a simpler time with a powerful message…
Sometimes it takes a close call to remind us how lucky and fortunate we are, and how a positive attitude can change your perspective and therefore your reality.
How family extends beyond who we are partnered with and the children we have, and includes our friends, neighbors and the people whose lives we touch and who touch us each and every day. And as Clarence (the angel) reminds us in the closing scene, “No man is a failure who has friends.”
So if you think, even for a minute, that you and your efforts don’t make a difference, nothing could be further from the truth. Everything you do, however seemingly small, makes a difference.
What a wonderful life.
Richard Corder 