HMC has five core competencies for organizational improvement:

• Mission
• HMC CARES Values
• Strategic Goals
• UW Medicine Service Standards
• Patient and Family Centered Care

Harborview Medical Center is a comprehensive health care facility dedicated to the control of illness and the promotion and restoration of health. Its primary mission is to provide and teach exemplary patient care and to provide health care for those patients King County is obligated to serve. Harborview recognizes that the delivery of the highest quality of health care is enhanced by a strong commitment to teaching, clinical service and research.

Harborview is also aligned with the University of Washington. All HMC employees are University of Washington employees. The University of Washington's vision is:

Commitment- We are committed to our mission.

Access- We facilitate access to appropriate services.

Respect- We show respect for our patients and each other.

Excellence- We strive for excellence in clinical care, teaching and research.

Service- We demonstrate quality service.

HMC CARES Values are used as criteria for our quarterly Service Excellence awards for physicians and staff and the annual Employee and Manager of the Year selection processes. HMC CARES Values are integral to our expectations of who we are at Harborview.

The University of Washington's Values are very similar to HMC's. They are:

Integrity, Diversity, Excellence, Collaboration, Innovation and Respect

UW, through the Leadership, Values and Community Initiative, is creating many programs and opportunities that emphasize the UW Values. Many of these have rolled out in the past two years and there are more to come.

Every year, Harborview embraces strategic goals for the hospital. The strategic goals for Fiscal Year 2010 are:

• Support processes that promote patient safety, excellence in service to patients, and regulatory compliance and accreditation.
• Maintain ongoing financial viability.
• Strengthen patient/staff/faculty satisfaction.
• Identify, implement, and evaluate existing and new programs at HMC according to HMC's missions (clinical service, teaching, research) and their impact on financial viability.

JCAHO Performance Improvement Standards state that the hospital must collect data to monitor performance, data needs to be analyzed, and this information is used to make changes that improve performance and patient safety.

Like many other medical centers, Harborview uses an improvement model to identify areas for improvement, analyze the problem, create solutions to the problem, implement those solutions and evaluate the results.

Improvement Model  is P-D-C-A

Plan: What is the objective of the proposed change?

In order to complete this step, we need to identify the problem and then narrow it down to a specific problem statement.

Do: What did you do? What data did you record?

In this step we are analyzing the problem. To do that we need to understand the current process and think about what is causing the problems in it. Then we will 'test' the solution. 

Check: What did the data tell you?  What did you learn?

After testing our solution we need to see if it really led to an improvement. Not all changes lead to improvements. We don't want to make changes that lead to more problems so we need to do 'Check' our work to make sure we are solving the problem.

Act: What changes did you make, based on your data?

Finally, we are in a position to implement our changes. If the data supports moving forward then we will adopt the solution. In this step we train all the people impacted by the changes on the new process. We also come back from time to time to make sure that our improvements continue. We are all 'creatures of habit' and without active monitoring we can slip back into the old process.

Everyone at HMC is part of our improvement process. In your day to day work there are many opportunites to use the PDCA process. When you find that the problem is big enough for a group solution, talk to your manager. Thank you for all of your work this past year in improving HMC for our patients, families, other customers, and colleagues. 

The UW Medicine Service Standards are expectations for how all staff interact with our customers.

• Introduce yourself and explain your role.
• Ask what name a person prefers to be called.
• Offer assistance if someone looks lost or confused.
• Escort people to their destinations if they seem lost or confused.
• Refer people to those who can give assistance when you cannot provide the help someone requires.
• Conduct care-related discussions in the most private setting available.
• Take responsibility for complaints and follow through to resolution.
• Provide additional service for those who have been inconvenienced or who may need special assistance.
• Always end your conversation with, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

You are about to end an interaction with a patient or other customer. What do you do?

Ask them, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

We have heard from many patients, family members, and other customers that this question helps them to ask for something they were not sure about or to tell the staff member something they forgot. It may seem that asking this question will give you a lot of extra work but it can help your customers feel comfortable and remember to tell you something that makes your work better.

Harborview is committed to providing Patient and Family Centered Care throughout the medical center. Patient and Family Centered Care means we work in partnership with patients and families to ensure safety and quality of care. It also means that the care we deliver includes the following:

• A welcoming physical environment
• Respect for patient/family values
• Patient/family empowerment/collaboration
• Coordination/integration of care
• Comfort and support
• Access and navigation skills

Patient and Family Centered Care applies to patients of all ages, and is practiced in any setting. Our vision for Patient and Family Centered Care is for patients and their families to feel cared for.

Congratulations, you have completed the reading section of Module 4.

Next, click on "Take the Quiz" at the bottom of this screen.

Once you are finished with the quiz, you will be directed to Module 5.