In a world that offers access to a multitude of digital and paper communication methods, identifying when, how and how much information to share within a care team to optimize patient safety can be challenging. In this session, learn how to build and embed a structured and practical tool, which can support decision making, prioritize essential information, reduce over-notification, improve efficiency and enhance effective communication. Lessons from implementing a structured communication matrix will be shared by a physician working in long-term care. This session will then highlight how a similar tool can be integrated into different care settings.

Despite significant effort to improve healthcare, efficiency and effectiveness, rates of harm remain consistently high, and healthcare associated costs continue to grow.  This stark reality requires those within the system to adopt multi-faceted, innovative approaches to improving quality of care that will contribute to sustainment of our public system. 

Lean is one form of improvement that has been successfully utilized by several leading healthcare organizations in their efforts to meet the dynamic and growing demands of healthcare industry. Often thought of as a standalone method of improvement, Lean principles and tools are most effective when used in conjunction with other methodologies including the IHI Model for Improvement. 

By adopting Lean as part of a larger strategy for Quality Improvement, we can create a more robust, effective “toolbox” to support a mindset of continuous improvement that can be tailored to any setting or improvement effort.