Vila Health: Quality Assurance and Leadership

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DHA8042 Vila Health™ Activity

Quality Assurance and Leadership Introduction

Email from Evelyn Unger

Documents

Meet the Focus Group

Focus Group Interview

Email from Evelyn Unger

Stakeholder Interviews

Email Response to Evelyn Unger

Conclusion

Credits

Introduction

The healthcare industry has faced signi�cant challenges over the last several years and few in the industry

would predict that will change anytime soon. In order to succeed, health care leaders need to apply insight and

analysis to their strategic planning. Quality improvement programs increasingly are crucial elements to

ensuring the success of the strategic planning e�orts.

Educational Goals

After completing the activity, you should be prepared to:

Select a health care strategic goal within the hospital for quality improvement.

Research best practices in leadership and team building for the appropriate quality improvement

programs.

Research how a team approach in health care improves quality.

Email from Evelyn Unger

Strategic Planning and Development Team

From: Evelyn Unger, Project Manager

To: Archelia Johnston-Taylor

Archelia,

I’m so glad to hear you’re going to be part of this project — I was hoping we’d have a chance to work together

again and I know you’re going to bring a lot to this team. As you’re no doubt aware, the leadership team at Vila

Health is committed to creating strong strategic goals and using the right tools to measure our progress on

meeting those goals.

We’re doing this at all levels of the organization and the team you’re working with will be focused on St.

Anthony Medical Center (SAMC) — our main hospital in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. Your speci�c task is

to analyze the situation and make some recommendations for long-term sustainability with quality

improvement teams.

Obviously, the �rst phase for you will be information gathering. Some you’ll be doing on your own, but some

will involve talking with key stakeholders and reviewing what’s already in place.

I set up a small focus group to discuss some of the key issues leadership at SAMC is concerned with. Our

director of Case Management and two other key stakeholders weren’t able to be part of the focus group, but

I’m working on setting up interview times with them, as well.

Finally, I put copies of the SAMC Strategic Plan and the SAMC Nursing Strategic Plan on the network drive for

you to review.

So … with all that you should be pretty busy! I’ll get back with you later in the day to see how you’re doing.

Evelyn

Documents

Vila Health Strategic Plan

These are uncertain times for health care systems. The health care industry and the regulations that govern

this industry are going through signi�cant changes. Ongoing health reform e�orts create uncertainty on the

part of organizations such as ours, as all players work to determine how the value, quality, and transparency

that consumers and regulators alike are calling for can actually be put into action.

Vila Health’s strategic plan identi�es strategic goals that we intend to meet by 2020. These goals provide the

guidance Vila Health sta� and stakeholders will need to create a modern, patient oriented environment that

supports our ability to deliver the highest quality care at lower costs. In order to do this, Vila Health must

identify the challenges facing the organization and must create a workplace where the necessary

improvements can be implemented and supported at all levels. Innovation and continuous quality

improvement will not only improve our ability to prove for our patients and their families, but also will allow us

to create the next generation of health care delivery systems.

Vila Health Mission Vision and Values

Mission

Vila Health is a comprehensive system of health dedicated to preventing and treating illness and improving the

health of the people it serves through innovative and compassionate care.

Vision

Vila Health aspires to transform lives through science, education and exceptional care, locally and globally.

Values

Vila Health is dedicated to providing quality health care by creating a system of care that promotes

compassion, integrity, and accountability in all its dealings with patients, sta�, and other partners.

Vila Health 2015 Strategic Goals

Vila Health will become a national leader in the health care system industry. We will consistently meet or

exceed industry and regulatory expectations for the e�cient, compassionate delivery of outstanding patient

care provided with optimum value.

Vila Health Strategic Goals:

Vila Health will transform lives and provide quality health care through a nationally recognized, patient-

centered system of care that includes:

A comprehensive system of health care delivery that spans the entirety of our service area.

Consistent, holistic patient care that meets patients and their families where they are physically and

emotionally, while providing the best options in the best manner possible.

An enhanced patient encounter that leverages health information technologies to deliver a positive,

engaging, and consistent experience with every interaction.

The best practitioners and healthcare professionals, working together to create a culture of excellence

and performance.

State-of-the-art facilities and services that meet or exceed national and local benchmarks and

requirements.

St. Anthony Medical Center Nursing Strategic Plan

2012 – 2015

This document lays out the foundation of the St. Anthony Medical Center (SAMC) Nursing Strategic Plan. The

strategic goals discussed in this document re�ect a �uid strategy, capable of changing as necessary to re�ect

changes in the regulatory environment as well as changing needs within the community.

Saint Anthony Medical Center Nursing Strategic Plan

Mission

Provide compassionate patient care that is science based and technologically supported.

Vision

Advance our own nursing practice and the nursing �eld in order to provide the highest quality patient

care.

Values

Demonstrate sensitivity, empathy, courage, and integrity in every patient encounter and aspect of our

nursing practice.

Nursing Goals

Patient Experience

Become a leader in patient experience as measured by HCAPS and other national and local

benchmarks.

Implement bedside shift reports, nurse leader rounding, and other innovations to improve

communications between caregivers.

Nursing Development

Improve alignment between strategic goals and nursing practice and work�ow.

Use clinical outcome data to improve transparency.

Increase opportunities to involve sta� nurses in innovative projects.

Nursing Leadership

Share leadership and business goals with sta� nurses.

Promote collaborative professional relationships.

Increase opportunities to utilize SAMC resources in support of professional growth and development

for nursing sta�.

Meet the Focus Group

Now that you have a better understanding of the project, it's time to meet the focus group.

Nicholas Martinez Chief Administrative Officer, Vila Health Corporate

Mr. Martinez provides a link between the Vila Health corporate vision and this teams focus on St. Anthony

Medical Center.

Blake Carter Director of IT, Vila Health Corporate

Mr. Carter’s focus is on information technology and the role of data analytics as Vila Health moves forward.

Geoffrey Vaughn Chief Executive Officer, SAMC

Geo�rey Vaughn keeps St. Anthony Medical Center focused on its goals and strategies and mitigates

distractions that could cause the organization to drift from the established vision.

Jackie Sandoval Chief Nursing Officer, SAMC

Ms. Sandoval provides leadership for the nursing sta� and ensures nursing goals align to the overall direction

set by the hospital and Vila Health.

Focus Group Interview

Content of this section depends on choices made during the scenario. Complete at least one attempt of the

scenario to see your choices re�ected here.

Email from Evelyn Unger

Strategic Planning — Stakeholder Interviews

From: Evelyn Unger, Project Manager

To: Archelia Johnston-Taylor

Archelia,

I hope the focus group provided some insight to the issues we need to address in the strategic planning. As I

mentioned in my previous email, I was working on setting up interviews with a couple more key stakeholders.

Talk to them, and you should be ready to move on to whatever external research you’re planning to do.

I’ll check back with you later.

Evelyn

Stakeholder Interviews

Content of this section depends on choices made during the scenario. Complete at least one attempt of the

scenario to see your choices re�ected here.

Email Response to Evelyn Unger

RE: Strategic Planning — Stakeholder Interviews

From: Evelyn Unger, Project Manager

To: Archelia Johnston-Taylor

Archelia,

I hope your interviews went well. Some of the members of the leadership team asked what your �rst

impressions are — could you take a few minutes to describe what you learned from the interviews and

reviewing the strategic plans?

They’re particularly interested in your thoughts about how the organization measures up against current

trends in team leadership in quality improvement processes and other best practices you’re aware of in the

industry.

Again, I know you have not yet had time to dig into these issues, so I’m just looking for your general

impressions about where things stand, what red �ags you might have observed, and what your next steps will

be.

Thanks!

Evelyn

Below is the email you sent to address the leadership team's questions.

Content of this section depends on choices made during the scenario. Complete at least one attempt of the

scenario to see your choices re�ected here.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've completed the Quality Assurance and Leadership Challenge.

You're now ready to select a speci�c strategy for quality improvement and to conduct the necessary research

on best practices in leadership and how a team approach in health care improves quality.

Credits

Subject Matter Expert:

Christopher Miller, DHSc, MHM

Interactive Design:

Estelle Domingos, Mark Bune, Marc Ashmore

Interactive Developer:

Peter Hentges

Instructional Design: ID

Jae Johnson

Media Instructional Design:

Felicity Pearson

Project Management:

Julie M-Courts Greunke

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.