| Most health care organizations have process | | | | organization understand how they are going to |
| improvement programs. However, often times the | | | | accomplish the vision. If the strategic plan is to be |
| process improvement strategy is not well coordinated | | | | effective, it should be broken down into goals and |
| or connected with the vision and strategic plan of the | | | | performance measures for each individual within the |
| organization. With the paucity of resources, it is more | | | | organization. This will help each individual recognize their |
| important than ever to have a coordinated approach | | | | value in the organization. |
| to health care improvement. | | | | 3. Align process improvement to strategic goals |
| Although dashboards have been a popular method for | | | | Each strategic objective and goal will have some work |
| helping senior leaders understand their organization's | | | | around it, these should be prioritized and a map should |
| current state, they often do not provide information on | | | | outline the processes that need to be improved first. |
| accountability or how they will help the organization | | | | Successful process improvement is based on the |
| achieve their organizational goals. This alignment is | | | | concept of prioritization and accurate resource |
| important if health care organizations are going to | | | | allocation. Often process improvement strategies are |
| become highly effective organizations. There are | | | | not prioritized and are not associated with a specific |
| several keys to developing a highly sophisticated and | | | | strategic objectives. |
| useful process improvement plan. | | | | 4. Track progress in real time |
| 1. Develop a clear and compelling vision | | | | This is the benefit of dashboards, they can be |
| This is important if organizations are going to have | | | | designed to have input from the teams who have a |
| employees who understand the work they need to do. | | | | well designed project in real time. This can include |
| One study suggests that one of the major reasons | | | | having a clear charter with identified accountabilities, |
| that overall organization effectiveness is compromised | | | | resources being used, timeline and measures of |
| is due to the lack of vision within the organization. | | | | success. Once this information is placed in an accurate |
| 2. Develop a strategic plan with clear measures | | | | dashboard it can become useful to determine how the |
| In organizations the strategic plan helps everyone in the | | | | organization is progressing towards its goals. |