High-Reliability Organizations recognize that errors and harm are always possible and they continuously seek opportunities to learn and improve processes to prevent defects, harm and create a culture of safety. At Houston Methodist, we maintain a commitment to quality and safety at all levels, from frontline providers to managers and executives. In honor of celebrating this commitment, the System Quality and Patient Safety nomination committee is inviting nominations for the 2021 Culture of Safety Awards, formerly called System Quality and Patient Safety Awards.
Purpose: Recognize outstanding individuals and teams consistent contributions and commitment in advancing quality and patient safety in their units, departments, hospitals and/or the system.
Eligibility: Physicians and staff, both clinical and non-clinical, may nominate an individual or a team.
Process: Nominations must be submitted using the BRAVO platform only. Nominations must be in alignment with the award category descriptions (below). Use this job aid to help with your nomination. Please note BRAVO times out every 20 minutes.
Deadline: Nominations are due by Aug. 12 at 5 p.m. Awardees will be notified on Sept. 30.
Questions: Contact Pavithra Bora
AWARD CATEGORIES
UNPARALLELED QUALITY
This award recognizes an individual or a team who consistently demonstrates a commitment to supporting and/or leading unparalleled quality efforts that result in measurable improvements in the delivery of safe and conscientious patient care. Is the care being delivered safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable?
Examples include but are not limited to:
- Prevents health care associated conditions.
- Improves coordination of care.
- Improves outcomes, workflow, or processes.
- Active surveillance and reporting and identify opportunities for improvement.
UNPARALLELED SAFETY
This award recognizes an individual or a team who consistently demonstrates a commitment to unparalleled safety by addressing defects in the workplace and preventing harm to our patients in an everyday setting.
Examples include but are not limited to:
- Voices concerns related to patient safety and goes above and beyond to prevent it.
- Promotes transparency and shared learning.
- Volunteers to take on patient safety project(s) and addresses organizational challenges.
- Promotes workforce wellbeing and resiliency efforts in caring for our own.
- Develops, implements, and spreads an effective process to decrease defects and harm.
- Builds team-based activities that empower and encourage others, resulting in increased patient safety and awareness.
INNOVATION IN SAFETY AND QUALITY
This award recognizes an individual or a team that has developed and implemented an innovative patient safety and/or quality process, project, or program, with measurably improved outcomes.
Examples include but are not limited to:
- Adopts and implements best practices to achieve unit, entity, system-level goals.
- Enhances communication among providers, patients, and families to improve outcomes.
- Identifies and implements innovative solutions to address safety issues or sources of harm.
- Effects change by collaborating and engaging multidisciplinary teams in developing protocols and patient-centered solutions.
TEAM HIGH RELIABILITY – DRIVING THE PURSUIT OF ZERO DEFECTS AND FAILURE FREE OPERATION (processes and activities)
This award recognizes a team that has shown exemplary commitment to the development of comprehensive systems and processes that leads to a safer and more reliable health care system. These changes involve consistently working towards achieving zero patient harm and creating a culture of safety throughout the organization. The team must have operationalized one or more of the principles of high reliability organizations: (1) deference to expertise of the front line (2) sensitivity to operations and workflow enhancement of the front line (3) preoccupation with failure and its prevention (4) reluctance to simplify – always looking upstream for the cause of the defects (5) build resilience in the organization by fixing system issues and building individual resiliency skills.
Examples include but are not limited to:
- Implementation of widespread system changes to eliminate human error.
- Systemwide initiatives, programs, education, the reinforced message that promotes a culture of safety and communication.
- Rapid response and change in the wake of an event of harm or near-miss event, reflecting an organizational culture of safety, transparency, system-wide learning, and defect-free expectations.
TEAM PROCESS EXCELLENCE
This award recognizes a team that has shown exemplary commitment to continuous process improvement, performance, and operational excellence. This occurs by designing and practicing safe, reliable, and effective care as their standard work. These teams affect both rapid and incremental changes. Improvements are aligned to deliver standardized care as the default, reduce variation, individualize care and processes when appropriate. These changes involve leadership commitment to widespread deployment of highly effective process improvement tools, application of lean methodology, practice deference to the expertise of the frontline to allow and address barriers in everyday workflow.
Examples include but are not limited to:
- Identifies and reduces/eliminates process variation.
- Reduces wait times to improve patient flow.
- Creates processes to limit/eliminate the introduction of human error.
- Engages in lean projects focused on patient safety issues.
- Implements major process improvement measures around high reliability.
Learn how to submit your nomination through the Bravo system by clicking here.
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