Once you have arrived at evidence (data)-based decisions for process improvement, you then need to implement the changes. Here are seven steps that will assist you.
- Communicate why changes are needed. Ground your new vision in reality and explain it in plain language.
- Form a coalition and consider including those who oppose the changes. Often, their inclusion will bring fresh ideas and reduce resistance.
- Communicate the vision to stakeholders inside and outside the organization.
- Empower others to act on the new vision. By doing so, it will help you to:
- Obtain a source of additional manpower/staffing.
- Get buy-in from the empowered.
- Receive additional feedback to help fine-tune your changes.
- Reward participants, especially those who do most of the grunt work.
- Constantly assess and re-adjust as needed when consolidating improvements. Minor corrections are easier to absorb than major changes, which can destabilize and disrupt your change efforts.
- Identify opportunities to reinforce how the changes are related to organizational success by monitoring participant reactions through communication channels and practical evaluation techniques.
By adopting a quality management program with a data-driven process that includes evidence-based problem identification, you can implement potentially life-saving changes to improve patient care.
Action step for implementing process improvement changes
Apply for the NFA course Emergency Medical Services: Quality Management (R0158) to learn how to create, implement and maintain a Quality Management Program using historical examples, current models, and best practices in quality assurance and improvement, process improvement, and data collection and analysis.
Explore more articles:
- Filter:
