The LOTUS: A Journey to Value-Based, Patient-Centered Care

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Critical Care Medicine
• Team Collaboration

Background:

• Hospital mergers necessitate transformative changes in operational processes.
• Traditional hierarchical structures in ICUs can limit multidisciplinary team engagement.
• A need exists for improved patient-centered care models in critical care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a novel multidisciplinary rounding process, Leadership, Ownership, Transformation, Unity, and Sustainability (LOTUS), in a 20-bed ICU.
• To transition from a hierarchical practice to a collaborative model fostering equal discipline participation.
• To enhance patient care quality, safety, and outcomes through a holistic transformation.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of the LOTUS (Leadership, Ownership, Transformation, Unity, and Sustainability) rounding process.
• Restructuring of team dynamics to ensure equal voice for all disciplines within the ICU.
• Focusing goal determination on patients and their families to promote patient-centered care.

Main Results:

• The LOTUS initiative fostered cohesive and collaborative multidisciplinary team functioning.
• Each discipline was empowered to work at the highest scope of practice.
• Established a method for collecting quality metrics and improved patient-centered goal setting.

Conclusions:

• The LOTUS rounding process represents a successful holistic transformation of ICU team dynamics.
• This collaborative model enhances critical care delivery, aligning with goals of improved patient safety and reduced mortality.
• The initiative provides a framework for effective multidisciplinary teamwork and quality metric collection in critical care.