Organizational Change

Clinical practice is embedded in organizational culture; and broader organizational improvement initiatives can support clinical quality and safety, and make such changes more sustainable. Stratis Health works with provider organizations to foster leadership and communication that supports quality, and empowers individuals and teams to continuously improve care.

Accurate data, sound methodology, and useful information are vitally important to understanding the quality of care in a health care setting. Used in isolation, they will not change behavior and bring about improvement, especially lasting improvement. Information needs to be combined with creative and practical organizational change strategies to drive and sustain improved performance.

Teamwork and communication

The pace and complexity of daily work in health care settings makes teamwork and clear communication essential for ensuring quality and patient safety. Stratis Health employs Team STEPPS, an evidence-based teamwork system, to help providers optimize patient outcomes by improving communication and other teamwork skills among health care professionals. We also train and support health professionals on communication strategies such as SBAR—Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations—to enhance time-sensitive information exchange and decision-making.

Culture change in nursing homes

Culture change is a movement working to transform the traditional nursing home from institutional models to a place that can truly be called home for the people who live there, as well as a supportive and positive workplace for employees. Stratis Health has worked extensively with Minnesota’s approximately 400 nursing homes in creating healthier, more enjoyable communities for their residents. We provided quality improvement tools, training, and resources. We helped launch the Minnesota Culture Change Coalition, a coalition of stakeholders in long-term care interested in broadly fostering person-centered care, and continue to play a leadership role in the coalition’s awareness and education efforts.

Stratis Health has led Minnesota nursing homes in projects focused on culture change, including person-directed care. For example, through our QIO work, Stratis Health supported more than 50 nursing homes in a learning collaborative focused on reducing physical restraints, pain, and pressure ulcers; lowering workforce turnover; and moving from an institutional environment to one that is person-centered, all built on a foundation of quality improvement and organizational change principles. One of Stratis Health's Building Healthier Communities awards allowed Perham Memorial Hospital to share with others information about its culture change journey. Since implementing a household model of care to improve the lives of those living and working in nursing homes, Perham Memorial Hospital and Home has fielded numerous requests from nursing homes and other long term care stakeholders wanting to emulate its success. Stratis Health's nursing home and culture change experts assistedt with the project.

Patient safety culture

To improve patient safety culture, Stratis Health supports health care providers in conducting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety culture survey, in analyzing and understanding the results, and making changes to systems, processes, and their organizational cultures to improve patient safety. The tool assesses their patient safety culture, tracks changes in patient safety over time, and evaluates the impact of patient safety interventions.

Our experience includes our work in the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) contract.

Resources

Patient Safety Culture Surveys. To support a culture of patient safety and quality improvement in the nation's health care system, the AHRQ sponsored the development of patient safety culture assessment tools for hospitals, nursing homes, and ambulatory outpatient medical offices, and Stratis Health has expertise in survey implementation and analysis, and in developing and supporting interventions based on the results.

Contact Stratis Health for assistance with your quality improvement and patient safety needs.

If your organization would like assistance working on organizational change, contact us to discuss how we can work together to make your initiatives successful.