Recognizing the need to build a “just culture”, the leadership team at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod undertook a multidisciplinary, multi-pronged approach for improvement.
First, the hospital embedded a promise, in policy, to use incident and quality data for improvement purposes, not performance assessment. Then Spaulding Cape Cod ensured that staff were educated on this change, which provided the foundation for culture change. The hospital then joined the MHA Hospital Engagement Network and set zero harms, across the board, as its goal.
Through targeted, multidisciplinary committees that included front-level aides, staff education about the goals, frequent posting of outcome data, and celebration of successes, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod was able to create momentum and engagement, ultimately leading to an improved organizational culture.
The hospital’s efforts, according to 2015 data, the reduced harm “across the board” by 80.2% to 6.4/1,000 patient days, saving the healthcare system $1,883,181 and preventing incidents. Medication events were reduced 96.3% to 0.7/1,000 patient days. Overall patient satisfaction reached the top 1-3% of rehabilitation hospitals nationally, according to Press Ganey surveys.
For its efforts, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod was the winning entry in the “Enhancing Culture and Leadership” category of the first annual MHA Compass Awards held last November. Entries in each of the six Compass Award categories were voted on by non-Massachusetts judges from across the U.S., who assessed the entries “blind” – meaning there were no details to identify the hospital competing.
The deadline for the 2017 Compass Awards was this past week and MHA is preparing to send the 50-plus entries from 30 separate hospitals, health systems, and physician practices to judges shortly. Finalists will be notified in mid-February, and the award ceremony is scheduled for March 9 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Burlington Marriott Hotel.