A Continuous Improvement and Learning Model LO19452
TJclark@aol.com
Thu, 8 Oct 1998 10:28:14 EDT
Replying to LO19436 - Intro - Edie Happs
>My question is how would you apply this process to a
>"carving out" from one hospital to staff another hospital
>with limited increase in staff.
Edie, One way of looking at this opportunity of "carving out" is that if
it is successful, who else in the industry would be interested in how it
was brought about and what would you have to do to convince them to buy
the approach taken?
I have adopted a continuous improvement and learning model that has
increased my ability to support the ideal of a learning organization. I
break this model down into four phases:
1. Problem-Recognition -- Determining if there is a gap between a desired
outcome and the current situation. Why was the action taken? Is there a
concensus on the desired outcome? How was it done? How will you/others
know that it was successful (e.g., patient load? census? better service?
happier staff? lower cost?)
2. Decision-making -- Developing alternatives and a plan of action. It
appears that "carving out" was the alternative selected and I assume there
is a timeline.
3. Problem-Resolution -- Implementing the plan of action and comparing
what was suppose to happen with what really happened, i.e., what went
well, what didn't, what would you do differently next time, what were the
intended and unintended results?
Documenting these lessons learned, alias success or not so successful
stories, is a good way of sharing what was learned. If the project is
broken down into phases, this after-action-review process can be used
after each phase of the project.
4. Follow-through -- Standardize the improvement? Try something new?
Forget the whole thing? Or in other words, Now what?
In documenting the story, I would recommend a one- two page executive
summary or article. The extent of any supporting detail is dependent on
how you think the information will be used in the future.
If you're interested, I can send you a more detailed outline of the
process. I would also be interested in learning how the project works out.
--
Tim Clark ("Tim")
tjclark@aol.com
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com>
Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>