Tactics needed more than best practices
One lesson that came out of UnitedHealthcare’s (UHC) Health Engagement Network (HEN) is that hospital administrators and also front-line personnel might have heard enough about that old quality chestnut called "best practices."
In working with member hospitals to address patient falls, adverse events, and other quality improvement measures, the participants told UHC leadership that they need more specific guidance, says Cathleen Krsek, MSN, MBA, RN, FAAN, senior director of quality operation with the UHC HEN in Chicago.
"The big message we have been hearing from our members is that they don’t need to hear the best practices anymore because they know what they are," Krsek says. "They need more help with culture, accountability, and leadership to make sure that these best practices happen every day for every patient."
In response, the UHC HEN is conducting educational sessions those requested topics.
"They’re right that people know the best practices but don’t always employ them," Krsek says. "They may be looking for shortcuts, or administration gets in the way. For whatever reason, they don’t always do what they should. It’s the same way everyone knows to sanitize their hands when entering a patient room, but we have to find out why they don’t always do it."
