Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2014 - (Page 129)

use of eHr d ocu Mentation By H ealtHcare w orkers PRAC TITIONER in a H ospital s ysteM A P P L I C AT I ON Dennis E. Franks, FACHE, chief executive officer, Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center, Chanute, Kansas A s we continue to move toward accountable care, we are finding that having the right culture is more important today for hospitals than it has been in our history. We cannot shift our hospitals and staff to value-based purchasing and population health models without having a culture of quality, safety, and satisfaction in place. It is imperative that we have a way to assess where the organization is with respect to our knowledge of those cultural factors. The Hospital Leadership and Quality Assessment Tool (HLQAT) provides a way for leaders to accomplish such an assessment. Communication throughout the hospital is paramount today. Every staff member, board member, and member of the medical staff must be aware of the mission and vision of the organization. To ensure organization-wide awareness, the hospital must first be aware of where it stands: Does everyone, at every level of the organization, understand the mission and vision as they are intended? The HLQAT is an excellent tool to provide the senior staff with that knowledge, which will make clear the information needed to strategically move the culture of the hospital forward. Similarly, the hospital's culture will determine how quickly and efficiently it moves into accountable care. It should be no surprise that higher-performing hospitals have set about correcting system flaws and have made the long-term commitment it takes to implement and sustain those solutions. It is extremely difficult to know where to start; however, the HLQAT can make that decision much less of a burden. To my knowledge, no other instrument is available at this time to give senior management the information needed to find and focus on those structures and processes that have a positive influence on quality. 129

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2014

Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2014
Contents
Interview With Marna P. Borgstrom, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer, Yale New Haven Health System, and Chief Executive Officer, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Connecticut
Specialties: Missing in Our Healthcare Reform Strategies?
Costs and Benefits of Transforming Primary Care Practices: A Qualitative Study of North Carolina’s Improving Performance in Practice
Governing Board, C-suite, and Clinical Management Perceptions of Quality and Safety Structures, Processes, and Priorities in U.S. Hospitals
Use of Electronic Health Record Documentation by Healthcare Workers in an Acute Care Hospital System
Why Hospital Improvement Efforts Fail: A View From the Front Line

Journal of Healthcare Management - March/April 2014