thequalitypost
Greetings from Cat, Saj, Ari and Jenica
Welcome to the 110th edition of The Quality Post! In this issue, we showcase Make Your Work Count Twice, feature health care equity work led by Yalda Shahram and Akshar Rambachan, and update you on our performance on the FY20 DHM True North Quality Metrics.
inthisissue
Make Your Work Count Twice
HBR Tip: Be Extra Nice to Your Colleagues Right Now
Providing Equitable, High Quality Care - How Are We Doing?
FY20 DHM True North Quality Metrics
Make Your Work Count Twice
We’ve all heard the sage advice of “make your work count twice.” In other words, do the work AND also showcase it through academic means such as abstracts, conference workshops, and/or writing a peer-reviewed paper. For many of us, these academic outputs can stretch us out of our comfort zone, but perhaps none more than successfully writing a paper from start to finish. At this month’s Value Improvement Committee, Arpana Vidyarthi presented a fantastic talk on Transforming Your QI Work Into Academic Output based on her own experiences in successfully writing dozens of peer-reviewed articles and also on her experiences as an Associate Editor at the BMJ Quality and Safety. One of the high-yield pearls she offered was to start with the Title Page as it is more psychologically intimidating to write with a blank document open as opposed to already having content such as a title, authors, target journals, and brief outlines of your tables and figures. Another great tip is to write as you are speaking out what you want to write as opposed to trying to write the perfect sentence. This works particularly well for folks who find it easier to talk about their work than to write about their work. Click below to access the slides from the talk, and hope you find them as helpful as our VIC audience did!
Be Extra Nice to Your Colleagues Right Now
When you're under constant stress, it's not always easy to be patient and understanding with your coworkers. But being judgmental doesn't help anyone. How can you find — and demonstrate — empathy for your colleagues when you’re emotionally depleted? 1) Accept that we’re all coping with the coronavirus crisis differently. 2) Be generous in your interpretations of others when they send a terse email or look grumpy on a video call. It’s more than likely that their mood has nothing to do with you or work. 3) Do your part by being honest about what you’re feeling and clearly communicating your needs. 4) Remember that your coworkers are likely suffering in ways that you don't see or necessarily understand. Lean into compassion, empathy, and kindness.
This tip is adapted from “What Your Coworkers Need Right Now Is Compassion,” by Amy Gallo
Providing Equitable, High Quality Care - How Are We Doing?
Inequities in healthcare and health outcomes have become undeniable in the COVID-19 pandemic, with LatinX and Black communities shouldering the lion’s share of morbidity and mortality from the disease. While much has been studied and published on health inequities in the outpatient and emergency room settings, less is known about the gaps in health equity when it comes to the inpatient setting, including whether there are significant differences in outcomes in QI metrics amongst racial and ethnic groups. Yalda Shahram and Akshar Rambachan partnered to determine if these differences exist in our DHM True North QI metrics. They found that Black patients were less likely to receive opioids on discharge, had higher 7-day readmission rates, and longer hospital stays compared to White patients. They also found that patients identifying as Hispanic/Latino as compared to White/Caucasian were less likely to have ACP documentation during their hospitalization. Click below the pie chart for a summary of their findings and next steps presented at May’s QI lunch.
