Chapter Six in
Transforming Health Care
, talks about two separate departments,
the Ambulatory Surgery Center and the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine.
Each
undergo a transformation in this chapter.
Choose one and talk about the journey
that was taken to revitalize the center.
What were some of the challenges they
faced?
What were some of the problem solving methods they used?
Which
stakeholder input seemed to be the most important and why?
What was the
outcome?
Having surgery is nerve-wrecking and anxiety inducing for most patients.
Virginia Mason realized they were having severe issues with their surgery center.
From the beginning of the check-in process a patient would be handed off to
multiple staff members, forced to wait in crowded waiting rooms with no privacy,
and almost immediately separated from family members. Recognizing their
success from utilizing VMPS in other areas of the facility, Virginia Mason knew that
their surgery center issues needed to be addressed and fixed. It would be simple
to redesign a facility to provide a larger space, but the purpose of redesigning
was to change the patient and the staff’s experience by utilizing and focusing on
the VMPS principles. “Our approach with VMPS was to understand and improve
the processes and then determine the space required to support the flows and
needs of the patients and staff” (Kenney & Virginia, 2010, p. 95).
This goal was accomplished by relying on input from every person who
utilizes the space including the housekeepers, and by conducting patient focus
groups to get the clearest idea of what a patient wanted in a surgical experience.
By utilizing this information and conducting a roadmap of a patient’s day within
the facility, Virginia Mason was able to make positive changes by eliminating
wasteful enterprises.
Reference
Kenney, C., & Virginia, M. C. (2010).
Transforming health care: Virginia mason
medical center's pursuit of the perfect patient experience
. Productivity Press.
