Sometimes, a diligent focus on simple operational processes can pay big dividends. On a visit to Ottawa Hospital (Ontario, Canada), I had a chance to talk to Paul Zwicker, Resident District Manager of Housekeeping Services. Paul told me how paid medical leave (paid sick days) rates have dropped more than 60% from 2008, to 2010. The secret….well, it’s not a secret really. Good management principles (application of a framework called “I Impact” which defines and measures processes)…rounding for outcomes with employees …reinforcement …measurement…and thank you cards.
In terms of clinical quality, compliance to Hand Hygiene improved more than 74% from March 2009 to March 2010. A change in culture led to a safer hospital for patients, staff and visitors. How? Frequent access to hand sanitation stations. I saw Purell stations outside rooms, inside rooms, in the halls, and (in the photo enclosed) at the entrance to each unit. OK, the stations in the photo at the entrance to each unit are not the prettiest…but they make the point. When I saw them, I was reminded of the story of Lee Iacocca, former iconic CEO of Chrysler, and how he brought back convertibles to Chrysler after their financial troubles in the 1970s. As Chrysler was emerging from the recession, he felt a convertible would be a good idea. He asked his head of engineering how long it would take to make a convertible— and the exec came back after careful study, with his design and engineering team, described for Iacocca how they could build it in about three years. Iacocca told his engineer he didn’t understand — Iacocca wanted him to pull a car off the line, take a saw and cut off the roof. “That should take about four hours,” said Iacocca. The K-car convertible was released in 1982 to resounding success.
I’m wondering what would happen if more hospitals took the no-nonsense approach that Ottawa Hospital did. If you want staff and visitors to clean their hands, is it a simple as having Purell dispensers everywhere – with big Red Stop signs that say “Wash Your Hands”? And measurement tools posted so staff can see results. Seems like it is working at Ottawa Hospital!
Simple but effective hand sanitizing stations were placed throughout Ottawa Hospital to encourage employee participation.
