A "next generation" ethics committee. St. Joseph Health system has integrated performance-improvement features into...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Ethics
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare
• Organizational Change Management

Background:

• Traditional ethics committees face limitations in integrating expertise and methodology.
• St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) aimed to evolve its ethics committee structure.
• Resistance to change posed a significant barrier to adopting new models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation of SJHS's Next Generation Model (NG Model) for ethics committees.
• To identify challenges encountered during the transition from traditional to NG Models.
• To present tools and techniques developed to facilitate the integration of ethics expertise and quality improvement.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of the Next Generation Model (NG Model) for ethics committees starting in 1999.
• Conducting an audit in 2004 to assess the NG Model's effectiveness and identify challenges.
• Developing and applying specific tools and techniques to address identified transition issues.

Main Results:

• The transition to the NG Model faced cultural resistance to change.
• An audit revealed common challenges in the NG Model's implementation.
• SJHS developed practical tools to aid the ongoing transition and integration.

Conclusions:

• The NG Model provides a framework for integrating ethics expertise and quality improvement.
• Overcoming cultural resistance is crucial for successful implementation of new models.
• Developed tools effectively support ethics committees in collaboration, goal setting, and performance measurement.