Document Detail


Getting going together: can clinical teams and managers collaborate to identify problems and initiate improvement?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  15127692     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
A clear aim is key for the success of improvement projects, yet many fail already at this stage. We studied how clinical teams and managers at a university hospital in Sweden identified problems and defined aims as they initiated 24 process improvement projects. Categorizing and comparing problems at 3 stages of problem definition, we found that the majority of problems fell into 1 of 3 categories: information issues, poor procedures, and waiting times. Going through these stages, managers and clinical teams prioritized waiting-time problems. We show how managers can ask such teams to quickly identify problems suited for improvement projects through this step-wise, facts-based approach. We conclude that they can add their management perspective when giving specific assignments, to harness the combined benefits of both a bottom-up and a top-down approach to improvement.
Authors:
Johan Thor; Bo Herrlin; Karin Wittlöv; John Skår; Mats Brommels; Olle Svensson
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Quality management in health care     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1063-8628     ISO Abbreviation:  Qual Manag Health Care     Publication Date:    2004 Apr-Jun
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2004-05-06     Completed Date:  2004-05-27     Revised Date:  2006-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9306156     Medline TA:  Qual Manag Health Care     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  130-42     Citation Subset:  H    
Affiliation:
Medical Management Center, Karolinska Institute, Nobels väg 15 A, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. johan.thor@cmi.ki.se
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Cooperative Behavior*
Decision Making, Organizational
Hip Fractures / surgery
Hospital Administrators
Hospitals, University / standards*
Humans
Institutional Management Teams / organization & administration*
Patient Care Team / organization & administration*
Pilot Projects
Problem Solving
Process Assessment (Health Care) / organization & administration*
Quality Assurance, Health Care / organization & administration*
Sweden
Waiting Lists

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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