A quality manager’s place is in the thick of Y2K planning initiatives
Strong preparation programs rely on global vision, teamwork, analysis
If you’re on the fringes of your organization’s year 2000 (Y2K) initiative, you might be in the wrong place, say quality managers from several facilities whose plans have been under way for two years or more. Though you’re probably not a computer wizard by trade, don’t underestimate the skills you could bring to the table. Your organization’s millennial passage might well be smoother if your signature is on the plans.
The now-familiar terms "millennium bug" and "Y2K problem" refer to the host of potential disruptions that could occur if computers mistake the date code "00" for the year 1900 instead of 2000.
Why is Y2K your business?
At the very least, QI professionals are responsible for raising awareness about quality concerns. "Assuming that other people are going to look after each part of Y2K planning is the wrong attitude to have," asserts Kay Beauregard, director of Clinical Management and Quality at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. She says QI managers should make it their business to ensure their organizations have provisions for media and patient communications in the event of glitches on Jan. 1, 2000. "Everyone is accountable for how problems are going to affect patients in their area." On that score, Beaumont Hospital has a well-developed blueprint in place. (See related story, "Hospital covers all its millennial bases," p. 55.)
Depending on your job description, however, your involvement in Y2K could be more duty than option. "If QI directors are responsible for risk management as well as quality improvement, they had better be on their organization’s steering group and involved in every step of the plan," says Mara Fellhoelter, director of Quality and Resource Management at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles.
How can you help?
When you look at Y2K as a systems issue, it’s clear that you have much to offer. After all, who has a better grasp of the interdependencies of systems than QI people? Ruth Loncar, MBA, CPHQ, corporate director for quality and outcomes management for Adventist Health in Roseville, CA, says, "Quality managers not only know how to use coordination techniques, but they have over-arching responsibilities, so they’re familiar with different levels and departments of the organization."
Fellhoelter adds, "We’re good at methodically looking at issues instead of using gut-level reactions." Analytical skills are especially important since Y2K contingency initiatives don’t have precedents to fall back on.
QI specialists know team process and time-line construction inside and out. Nancy Richman, PhD, and Colleen Lewis, RN, quality managers at Kewanee (IL) Hospital, say they see those as necessary competencies on Y2K projects.
If you have support staff, don’t forget to keep them current on your facility’s plans, advises Fellhoelter. If worst comes to worst, they, along with everyone else, might find themselves helping out on tasks far removed from any job description they’ve ever seen.
Contingency plans for equipment breakdowns are half of the picture. Disaster planning is the other half for the eventualities that nobody can predict. Loncar notes, "Usually disaster plans are made pretty much at the higher levels of the institution. But this is an opportunity to take them down to each department and get people involved so we’ll be prepared to handle Y2K emergencies. We can come out of it with stronger disaster plans than we’ve ever had before."
The quality manager’s global vision should extend to other hospitals in the community, notes Larry Randolph, associate hospital director at William Beaumont Hospital. And it’s more than altruism, he adds. "The more hospitals share Y2K plans, the better we’ll all be prepared to pitch in with extra patient care if we have to."
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