Seizing opportunities for change at the operational level

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Quality Improvement
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Healthcare institutions face numerous incidents and accidents annually, placing a significant burden on floor staff.
• Existing literature highlights challenges in addressing everyday improvement opportunities within healthcare settings.
• The need for effective methods to support frontline staff in problem-solving is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel method for empowering healthcare floor staff to manage daily improvement opportunities.
• To increase the visibility of challenges faced by frontline staff in healthcare quality improvement.
• To provide better support for healthcare employees in addressing workplace improvements.

Main Methods:

• A literature review identified existing organizational issues related to improvement initiatives.
• A new method was developed and proposed based on identified gaps.
• The method was piloted in an internal medicine unit at Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal over three months.

Main Results:

• The proposed method resulted in a 68% increase in ideas generated per person per week compared to a reference study.
• The average time to close actions was reduced by 41% compared to the reference case.
• Employee empowerment, operationalization of continuous improvement, and strengthened team communication were observed.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a practical and effective approach for frontline healthcare staff to drive continuous improvement.
• The study demonstrates the potential for significant gains in idea generation and efficiency through staff empowerment.
• Further research with a longer duration is recommended to gather more comprehensive data.