Healthcare Qlty Risk Reg Cmpl 5

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Change Leadership: Risk Management and Patient Safety

Transforming from reactive to proactive mode requires healthcare executives to understand the competencies central to high-reliability organizational leadership. Youngberg (2011) outlines the relevant leadership competencies as:

• The ability to reinforce the systems and structure to promote safety based on evidence drawn from the science of safety.

• The ability to create a culture that develops and supports those who provide care and services to allow for greater capacity for teamwork, risk awareness, risk mitigation, and resiliency.

• The ability to focus and align resources to create and promote advancements in safety. • The commitment to assure that evidence-based, patient-centered, and system-centered

work is done. • The promise to all concerned that honest, ethical dialogue with patients is necessary

when breaches in safety occur. (p. 296)

Additionally, healthcare executives must understand the characteristics of high-reliability organizations and the associated risk management responsibilities. These characteristics include trust and transparency, reporting, f lexibility in hierarchy, justice and accountability, engagement, and dedication to organizational learning (Youngberg, 2011).

Themes for Success in Leadership • Shared sense of purpose. • Authenticity. • A hands-on approach. • Data-driven, accountable, high standards. • Focus on results. • Clarity of expectations. • A collaborative culture. • Respect. • Limited hierarchy. • Open communication. • Teamwork (Youngberg, 2011).

The National Patient Safety Goals and Strategic Direction

The National Patient Safety Goals and Strategic Direction outlined by the National Quality Forum (n.d.), CMS requirements (HHS, n.d.), and the Joint Commission (2017) standards make it clear that effective leaders must be transformational.

The National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) competencies for healthcare executives includes seven domains:

• Action domains: Execution, Relations, Transformation, and Boundary Spanning.

• Enabling domains: Health System Awareness & Business Literacy, Self-awareness & Self-development, and Values

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It is appropriate to reflect upon how quality, risk, and regulatory compliance are affected, given the strategic direction from CMS and the NCHL competencies requisite for transformational leadership (HHS, n.d.; NCHL, 2018).

Personal Reflection

You may wish to reflect upon your own leadership development plans, and assess high-impact competencies for implementation of the content and context of this course. It may be interesting to compare your ratings from before you began this course to your assessment of NCHL competencies, now that you have entered the final phase of the course.

If you were to construct a balanced scorecard for your organization, which areas would your position effect? Take a step outside the mechanics of data analysis, strategic direction, and industry and consider your role as a future healthcare leader.

Ethical Leadership

Implicit within the NHCL competencies is the value of ethical leadership. The American College for Healthcare Executives' code of ethics serves as a reminder that our actions should be patient- and community-focused (ACHE, n.d.). As a healthcare leader, you will be expected to own the vision and mission, support the strategic direction, and remain flexible while upholding your role as fiduciaries.

Professional Communication

Another aspect of leading within this dynamic industry is the need to practice professional communications. What are the most appropriate forms of communication to support your efforts? E-mail and social media communications are fraught with potential miscommunication and liability issues. It is important to explore issues associated with a professional communication.

References

American College of Healthcare Executives. (n.d.). ACHE code of ethics. http://www.ache.org/ABT_ACHE/code.cfm

National Center for Healthcare Leadership. (2018). NCHL Health Leadership Competency Model 3.0. https://nchl.member365.org/publicFr/store/item/19

National Quality Forum. (n.d.). NQF's mission and vision. http://www.qualityforum.org/About_NQF/Mission_and_Vision.aspx

The Joint Commission. (2017). Facts about the national patient safety goals. http:// www.jointcommission.org/facts_about_the_national_patient_safety_goals

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Accountable care organizations. http://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/accountable-care-organizations/index.asp

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Youngberg, B. J. (2011). Principles of risk management and patient safety. Jones and Bartlett.