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Using the October Town Meeting as an opportunity to launch a broad improvement agenda for Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA outlined a major initiative designed to bring together ongoing initiatives in a comprehensive way. The new BW/F Improvement Agenda, centered upon the organization’s mission of providing innovative patient care, research and education, will focus on four major components:
• Safety and Quality• Service Excellence• Faculty and Staff Development and Innovation• Financial Resources and Accountability
“Elements of this improvement agenda have existed and new opportunities are emerging,” said Gottlieb. “From Service Excellence projects to the BWH Staff Survey, from our financial plan to patient safety programs, we are breaking new ground. In essence, we are building a foundation for the organization’s future success. Our dedication to exceptional patient care, teaching and research remains at the core of these efforts.”
The BW/F Improvement Agenda recognizes that each of these areas is related to one another. Without a focus on improving staff satisfaction, for example, patient satisfaction goals are less likely to be met. Similarly, financial accountability drives the institution’s ability to reinvest in many patient satisfaction and quality patient care initiatives.
“These efforts reflect the importance of the service value chain,” said Cheryl Locke, BWH vice president, Human Resources. “Satisfied staff drives quality of care which drives service excellence, and that leads to patient satisfaction and financial success. These factors reflect the essential characteristics of a successful healthcare organization.”
A coordinated planning approach will consolidate improvement efforts as a means to drive future success. The efforts will support the stated goals of the BW/F Vision to position BWH and Faulkner Hospitals as the academic and community teaching hospitals of choice. Essential to meeting that vision is the creation of a culture of learning and improvement.
The goal of the new BW/F Improvement Agenda will be to allow the hospital to act effectively and efficiently in achieving its improvement goals through the alignment of resources and focus. The year-old BW/F Balanced Scorecard system will be used to track progress in each of these four dimensions of performance, and to identify focused opportunities for improvement. Bringing together these four components of the improvement agenda will create a common culture that emphasizes ongoing learning and creativity.