How to use the Summit Series

 

The 12 programs in this Summit Series can be used to activate and equip the Board, as well as medical staff and administrative leaders. Here are some ways that leading-edge hospitals and systems are applying the DVDs:

 

Board Member Orientation

Hospitals can build the DVDs into the orientation program for new trustees. For example, new trustees could be asked to watch and discuss Program 4: “Quality, Isn’t That the Doctors’ Job?” to provide an excellent introduction to the critical importance of the Board in clinical quality and safety. (Note: The DVD programs can also be viewed by individual board members on their own schedule. The on-line pre-tests and post-tests allow convenient documentation of the trustees’ completion of the orientation/education process.) Other individual programs that can be built into new member orientation include Program 7 (Difficult Conversations, including an important description of the fiduciary duties of the board), and Program 11 (Credentialing, the Medical Staff, and the Board.)

Board Quality Committee Education and Development

Some hospitals are planning to use the DVD series as part of the regular, ongoing education of the Quality Committee. They show one program at each monthly meeting, followed by a brief discussion. Over the course of 12 meetings, the Quality Committee will receive a comprehensive education on oversight of quality and safety, and can even be ‘certified’ as having completed the course.

Medical Staff Leadership Development

Hospitals and their physicians are aligning structurally in new ways which require rapid development of medical staff leaders, as well as important changes in professional and organizational culture. A number of programs in the series are highly relevant to the role of the Medical Staff, and how that role relates to the work of the Board, e.g.:

o Program 4: Quality: Isn’t That the Doctor’s Job?
o Program 7: Difficult Conversations
o Program 8: Transparency
o Program 10: Never Events
o Program 11: Credentialing, the Medical Staff, and the Board

Many hospitals are using one or more of these DVDs, followed by a facilitated discussion (see the Study Guides), at medical staff retreats, committee meetings, and other gatherings, as part of the overall process of medical staff leadership development.

Board Retreats

Quality and safety have become overarching themes for many annual board and leadership retreats, and this DVD series can be an excellent, efficient resource for such events. For example, a hospital that is focusing on “activating” the board to become more engaged in quality might choose to use a half day of a retreat to review and discuss the first three programs in the series, organized under the theme “See the Problem.” This half-day could then be followed by a presentation of the quality performance data for that hospital, and the board/leadership group could make plans to whatever issues they face, armed with new insight, and propelled by a much higher level of engagement.

Board meeting “mini education” sessions

Many boards are routinely integrating 20 to 30 minute mini-education sessions into their regular board meetings. Using select programs from the DVD series for this purpose has been reported by several boards to be a great benefit to them and a perfect use for the programs, which range between 15 and 25 minutes in length. Some of the boards then used the appropriate discussion and facilitation guides to have a focused discussion on the content.

Preparation for Specific Challenges

One interesting use of the DVDs is as a refresher to prepare for a particularly difficult, challenging board or committee discussion or decision. For example, if the board is about to address a difficult credentialing issue, the whole board could view Program 11 on Credentialing immediately before taking up the credentialing matter. Similarly, the board might view Program 6 on Adopting Quality Aims, just before sitting down to discuss the quality aims for the coming year. And it would always be a good idea to brush up on Program 7, Difficult Conversations, just before going into one.

 

Please let us know what other ways your organization is using the DVD series so we can share it with the field