Alignment Critical in Healthcare Improvement Efforts

Aligning healthcare business leaders and physicians is more critical than ever states a March/April 2014 article in Healthcare Executive by Jane Calayag. Why is engaging physicians more critical and why is it a concern of 71% of the respondents to the ACHE‘s 2013 “Top Issues Confronting Hospitals” survey?

Engaging non-employed physicians is a challenge because they spend only a limited time at any one hospital and they may know very little about the hospital’s mission and values and are likely not invested in its quality initiatives. Some suggestions for engaging physicians can be found listed on this article at anipots, but in broad strokes they include: appoint physicians to leadership positions, use reliable data to provide evidence of where change can make a difference, provide training about quality improvement processes, offer financial incentives for time spent on quality initiatives, support a culture where people feel safe reporting quality issues.

A healthy lifestyle can help you thrive throughout your life. Making healthy choices isn’t always easy, however. It can be hard to find the time and energy to exercise regularly or prepare healthy meals. However, your efforts will pay off in many ways, and for the rest of your life.

Steps you can take:

• Be physically active for 30 minutes most days of the week. Break this up into three 10-minute sessions when pressed for time. Healthy movement may include walking, sports, dancing, yoga, running or other activities you enjoy.
• Eat a well-balanced, low-fat diet with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Choose a diet that’s low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and moderate in sugar, salt and total fat. Check  thehealthmania news if you are looking for natural healthy supplements.
• Avoid injury by wearing seatbelts and bike helmets, using smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the home, and using street smarts when walking alone. If you own a gun, recognize the dangers of having a gun in your home. Use safety precautions at all times.
• Don’t smoke, or quit if you do. Ask your health care provider for help. UCSF’s Tobacco Education Center offers smoking cessation and relapse prevention classes as well as doctor consultations for smokers trying to quit.

“Clinicians are, by nature, high performers; therefore, engaging them in excellence is not hard as long as you do it in the right way,” says (Bertine Colombo) McKenna, (exec VP and COO at Bassett Medical Center). The only pushback we find is when we don’t explain well the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of what we’re doing.”