Work in Action: Rural Healthcare Defying the Odds

Layers of standards and measures, mostly rooted in compliance, have mounted for decades -- all in the name of advancing quality and safety. The result is an overburdened workforce that is tired of checking boxes and jumping through hoops and whose been left to believe that quality ‘didn’t work’ or is a ‘waste of time’.   

The chief quality officer serves a key role to ensure that providers deliver the highest-quality care while lowering costs, reducing ineffective care, waste, and harm to patients. Chief quality officers come from a variety of backgrounds but all of them have specialized knowledge and skills in quality and safety competencies that make them an indispensable asset in the c-suite. This session will focus on how chief quality officers position and prepare for their workforce to lead. Hear from a panel of CQO's as they outline strategies and steps that help their team’s’ advance quality and safety in their organizations.

NAHQ data shows that 41% of those responding to the NAHQ Professional Assessment do not consider themselves responsible for integrating ethical standards into healthcare quality practice. This statistic is unexpected considering professionals who work in quality and safety have a responsibility to report and share data, even if it does not reflect their organization’s best work. Furthermore, this statistic creates a barrier to create a psychological safe space to deliver quality care. Achieving zero errors is complex and the hierarchy in medicine makes it challenging to effectively speak up, even when it's the ethical thing to do. This session will focus on how to approach creating a psychologically safe organization that leads with ethical practices to deliver quality care. Takeaways will include strategies that you can immediately implement in your organization.