The VHA embarked on a nationwide cultural transformation to spread High-Reliability Principles and practices in pursuit of “Zero Harm.” During planning efforts, VHA identified and defined a set of metrics that could best track data progress along VHA’s Journey to High Reliability. Feedback presented common themes around barriers to HRO implementation, as well as facility leader desires to utilize data more effectively for decision-making purposes. As a result, VHA developed a dynamic HRO Dashboard that displays enterprise metrics related to employee and patient safety. The dashboard will aid leaders in determining where to focus improvement.
Tool: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) High-Reliability Organization (HRO) Dashboard
Problem: High reliability requires steadfast focus across the enterprise for identifying potential problems and high-risk situations before they lead to an adverse event. The previous version of the dashboard was a non-automated process published as a quarterly PDF, which develops barriers in assessing data metrics for process improvement and patient safety
Tool Selection: Input was solicited on what current dashboard measures are helpful, what measures should be added, and what is important for tracking HRO progress. Subject matter experts considered feedback collected from VISN and facility representatives on the previous HRO Measure Set and the HRO Legacy Dashboards to guide refinements
Usage: Measurements revealed the baseline patterns of operations, which helped future planning and proactive decision-making. Changes indicated the impact of external events on operations or reflect the impact of implemented strategies. While the dashboard will be continually updated, data and HRO efforts can be displayed to improve patient safety
Results: The dashboard is available at the enterprise level to hone in on focused improvement efforts and guide the implementation of meaningful changes that reduce harm and encourage desired outcomes. Feedback on the VHA HRO Dashboard and its metrics will be continuously solicited, collected, and integrated allowing for continuous process improvement
