Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

The pandemic has transformed our lives in so many ways, least of which is how we deliver and improve care for our patients. In this Quality Improvement and Patient Safety track with internationally renowned speakers, we will (1) focus on why and how we need to improve the equity lens for quality and safety (Q&S), (2) provide action-oriented tools to maintain Q&S during a time where competing priorities make being present for our patients and our teams even more challenging, and (3) present a discussion with an insightful panel on the way in which we have and will transform the way we educate for Q&S since COVID-19 struck us.

Recognize the importance of ingraining equity lenses into quality & safety infrastructures within healthcare systems.

Demonstrate practical ways in which we can continue to focus on quality and safety throughout a pandemic.

Understand the ways in which our transformation to virtual communication platforms will affect the education of quality and safety going forward.

Speakers

11:00 – 11:30 CT

Ingraining Equity Lenses into Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Work

The pandemic has transformed our lives in so many ways, least of which is how we deliver and improve care for our patients. In this Quality Improvement and Patient Safety track with internationally renowned speakers, we will (1) focus on why and how we need to improve the equity lens for quality and safety (Q&S), (2) provide action-oriented tools to maintain Q&S during a time where competing priorities make being present for our patients and our teams even more challenging, and (3) present a discussion with an insightful panel on the way in which we have and will transform the way we educate for Q&S since COVID-19 struck us.

Learning Objectives

Recognize the importance of ingraining equity lenses into quality & safety infrastructures within healthcare systems
Demonstrate practical ways in which we can continue to focus on quality and safety throughout a pandemic
Understand the ways in which our transformation to virtual communication platforms will affect the education of quality and safety going forward

11:30 – 12:30 CT

Maintaining Q&S during COVID-19 and A Panel on the Future of Q&S Training and Education

Solving pandemic challenges: Reach for QI
(from this article)

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an environment of rapid-cycle change, moving targets, fluctuating demands and a focus on safety, where “getting it right the first time” became an unrealistic expectation. Systems with a focus on continuous QI and safety proved to be better equipped to deal with the pandemic response. This session will review these paradigms and how to apply them going forward.

Learning Objectives

Enumerate why QI thinking leads to an adaptive pandemic strategy
Demonstrate how to practically engage stakeholders using QI principles during a pandemic
Provide examples of interactions between the QI approach and other improvement modalities to improve patient outcomes

Pearls

Response strategies predicated on early modelling, repeat trials, acceptance of failure and iterative redesign are fundamentally well suited to pandemic response (or any other change strategy)
Meaningful stakeholder engagement is a process of consensus-building centered around common aims, endpoints, measures of success and work modelling, and for which meetings are a suboptimal approach
QI’s strength within this process relied on its philosophy and its interconnectivity with simulation, design thinking, and patient co-design – each with its own strenghts and limitations

Going to the COVID-19 Gemba: Combining the powers of high reliability and observation to achieve safety in a crisis
(from this article)

In a crisis like COVID-19, decisions are made quickly and plans may not work as intended. The Gemba Walk is an observation process for ensuring that front-line wisdom is used to address problems. This session will demonstrate how Gemba and other high-reliability strategies can keep us safe.

Learning Objectives

Understand the concept of Gemba
Identify 5 key principles of high reliability
Develop strategies to enhance safety during a crisis

Pearls

Think of safety as a dynamic non-event that is never permanently achieved.
The safest teams are always thinking about what might go wrong.
Going to the Gemba means watching the work as it happens and knowing how to ask the right questions.

Emergency Humans

A brief introduction into the history of the TeamSTEPPS program at St Boniface hospital, and how the lessons of that program and the challenges of 2020 lead to a new QI experiment: EMERGENCY HUMANS.

Learning Objectives

Become familiar with Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety.
Recognize the importance of standardized non-technical skills (NTS) in complex, ad-hoc team setting like the emergency department.
Apply a QI lens to developing and maintaining an interprofessional NTS program.

Pearls

NTS programming is possible in almost any setting – you just have to be creative!
Set up your metrics and measure often. We missed a big opportunity not measuring TeamSTEPPS in 2016.
Quality and patient safety can be fun and still effective.

Virtually There: A Panel on the Future of Quality and Safety Training and Education

The pandemic has created a new medical education world, one where virtual and non-traditional approaches are not only possible but necessary. Our panellists have delivered successfully on these opportunities, so join us on this high-yield discussion to learn how you can also adapt your educational programs for now and the future.

Learning Objectives

Review how the pandemic has changed the landscape for Q&S education
Describe practical ways in which educators can increase the quality and impact of their offering
Understand the strengths and challenges of the different approaches for the educator and learner