PART 5: A back to basics HMA PRIMER© ON WHY AND HOW TO ENTER THE HMA AWARDS

5. How to enter

For each category they are 5 to 7 questions that you need to answer. Each question has a word count limit of 150 to 250 words more or less. The questions are not the same and are slightly different for each category. Nevertheless, in general, you should be prepared to answer the following seven types of questions.

1. What is the background of the project? Why was this project chosen? And what are the objectives or outcomes that you want to achieve as a result of starting this project? Was the project started as a result of frequent customer complaints? Or was it initiated by one of the staff members?

2. Who does the project benefit and how does it benefit? Does it benefit the employees, or the community, or the physicians, or the customer -or all of the above? Is it a major benefit? Is it a major change in the service you are delivering? It does not really matter that the project must benefit all patients. For example a good project could be one that benefits just those who go to physical therapy. Another good project would benefit all visitors because it simplifies the way they visit your hospital.

3. Did you measure? In order to be a winner or runner-up, you need to offer some kind of measurement to demonstrate what was it like before the project started and what were the measurable results that were achieved. In this sense, your project should take before and after measurements.

4. What were the quality tools that the team used? Did you see Fishbone diagram? Did use a flowchart or FMEA?

5. There is usually a question about the project team? The judges want to see if the team that was assembled can address the problem at hand. Usually in a hospital, there is a large interdependence of different services and departments. Were all those who really matter included in the project team? Who was the team leader? How did the team function?

6. Are the results sustainable? How can you demonstrate that they are? Do you have testimonials from those you serve on the improvement  this project achieved? Was it mentioned in your annual report? Are there any newspaper reports? Did you win any awards?

7. Final word? And finally, a very important question is to be answered in all categories. This is an open-ended question that allows you to state whatever you would like to that you feel will convince the judges that you should win. You can cite statistics, give your own rationale or provide competitive data. Meaning YOU convince the judge's

You are allowed to submit attachments to explain or support your answers, and you should. How and how many attachments are all explained online. Make sure your attachments are relevant and clear.

PART 4: A simplified quality improvement process just for you

PART 4: A back to basics HMA PRIMER© ON WHY AND HOW TO ENTER THE HMA AWARDS

4. A simplified quality improvement
process just for you

To improve a service one must follow five simple steps.
a) Select an area you want to improve. See item 2 above
b) Put together a team leader and a team – or ask for volunteers. Include in the team the disciplines needed to make the improvement being sought.
c) Set a goal for improvement and draw up a timeline / plan
d) Brainstorms what might be the probable cause (using quality tools) and decide what to measure to get to the goal.
e) Gathers data, analyse it and comes up with the improvement.

PART 3: What quality tools are available and which ones should you use
PART 5:  How to enter

PART 3: A back to basics HMA PRIMER© ON WHY AND HOW TO ENTER THE HMA AWARDS

3. What quality tools are available and
which ones should you use

There are many quality tools but we can only outline them here. Note that those who make improvements without following a scientific process you will no doubt get some improvement. But they will not win an award. The best improvements come from using at least some basic easy to learn quality tools.

a) Fishbone (Ishkawa) Diagram: Also called the Cause–and–Effect Diagram. It is a systematic way of defining what the problem is and what is the most probable cause. This can be learnt in 30 minutes.
b) Pareto Analysis: This collects a series of data to determine what activities (or culprits) cause the major problems or bring in the biggest results. Better known as the 80/20 rule.
c) Scatter Diagram: To project and analyze the dispersion of variables like minutes tardy plotted against shift schedule.
d) Flow Chart: Identifies and eliminates unnecessary steps and combines or simplifies others to increase efficiency.
e) Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA): A structured approach to identify all possible failures in a service or process by studying the consequences, or effects, of those failures; FMEA seeks to eliminate or reduce failures, starting with the highest-priority ones.
f) Common sense data gathering: Often the least used. “What is the problem and what data do I need to gather and study”. It starts with the assumption that if it can’t be measured, it can’t be improved.

There are many websites that can easily be accessed for information on quality improvement tools techniques and processes. Two for example can be found at:
a. BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
http://www.bexcellence.org/Total-Quality-Management-Tools.html
b. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR QUALITY
http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/quality-tools.html

PART 2 How to select what improvement to make (What project to enter)
PART 4 A simplified quality improvement process just for you

PART 2: A back to basics HMA PRIMER© ON WHY AND HOW TO ENTER THE HMA AWARDS

2. How to select what improvement to make 

(What project to enter)

There are many ways of and reasons for selecting what improvements to make. These improvements will finally become a project worthy of entering in the awards. You can select an improvement area based on one or more of the following (not mutually exclusive) criteria:

a) A service area that has the most complaints from patients.
For example:
• waiting time at admission
• slow service upon arrival at ER
• extremely slow lab results
• food served cold

b) Patient safety that needs to be improved
• wrong medication
• wrong site surgery
• elderly patients falling off beds

c) Areas in which expenses keep rising
• adding more and more staff to the information desk
• number of housekeeping staff growing much higher than average
• food costs going up

d) Efficiency improvement areas
• number of staff per bed going up
• using technology to reduce waiting time
• using technology for patient records

e) Revenue-generating areas
• using social media marketing
• branding hospital or departmental products and services
• offering new/related services

f) Community involvement activities
• working together with the community
• encouraging employees to participate in community projects
• working with the government to improve healthcare in the country

There are many, THOUSANDS, more:
Look at the categories and of the Asian Hospital Management Awards, 2012. It will trigger what projects you should enter.

Look at the entries of 2,476 winners and runners-up of the last 10 years! You will get so many improvements ideas to implement. More than you can handle! Visit http://www.hospitalmanagementasia.com/knowledgebase/.

Finding and assigning improvement teams is the first, and easiest and most important step in continuous quality improvement.

“Everything can, should, and will be improved, 

if not by you then by your successor.”

PART 1: Why you should enter the awards even if you are unsure
PART 3: What quality tools are available and which ones should you use

PART 1: A back to basics HMA PRIMER© ON WHY AND HOW TO ENTER THE HMA AWARDS

Hospitals occasionally ask us why they should take the trouble to enter, especially if they are unsure of winning. Others do not feel they are fully equipped with the tools and techniques. Yet others may not appreciate that something simple they have implemented could actually be a winner.

It is with this as a background that HMA offers this back to basics PRIMER. It is a PRIMER mainly for the uninitiated. Experts can contribute by uploading their articles and make comments in the HMA blog for this – details to be announced soon. This primer is divided into five sections:
1. Why should you enter the awards even if you are unsure
2. How to select a project to enter
3. What quality tools are available and which ones should you use
4. A simplified quality improvement project development process just for you
5. How to enter

Please remember, this is a back to basics primer.

1. Why you should enter the awards
even if you are unsure

When you enter the awards you get the following benefits:

a) You signal to your team that you believe they have at least a few projects or programs that are good - that your patients and stakeholders appreciate what you are doing right.

b) When a few small teams start looking for what they have done well so that they can enter the awards, it lights a fire of enthusiasm. The fact is that when you look for improvements you always find it. So teams become motivated. This leads to a culture of self-analysis and self-criticism, leading a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

c) By submitting your entry, you are telling the world that you are proud of some of the things you are doing. Are you not?

d) You incite a hospital wide quality "revolution" including getting your teams interested in what other hospitals entered, what you can learn from them and what they may learn from you.

e) In any event, continuous quality improvement is a way of life, or should be in any business. Especially in healthcare, finding ways to improve service, reducing risk, improving safety are all essential in today's environment.

f) The worst that can happen is that your patients would benefit from improved service that the safety and the hospital real benefit from more avenues and less cost

g) There are many benefits even if you do not win. And if you do, then that is the icing on the cake with industry recognition of your efforts.

PART 2: How to select what improvement to make  (What project to enter)

Welcome to the official blog of HMA 2012

HMA, now in its 11th year is totally committed to keeping healthcare managers, clinicians and leaders updated on worldwide healthcare management thinking and experience while creating a real and virtual forum for regional networking of healthcare managers.

The conference topics are meant to be immediately useful “how to” tools. At the same time, there are thought- leading topics for the plenary sessions, CEO Forum and Health Leaders Summit that are targeted at senior and top executives.

HMA’s mission is to help healthcare managers improve and succeed. It directs itself to the continuing professional development of healthcare managers, clinicians and leaders in an environment of quality intellectual learning and quiet social exchanges.

Inherent in its branding is that the HMA is Asia's Premier Learning CONFERENCE and EXPO for Healthcare Managers. HMA updates delegates on best management practices in the industry. It is a teaching, learning and networking convention.

To know more about HMA, please visit our website at www.hospitalmanagementasia.com