The COEfficient The COEfficient - Capital Health

users are aware of what the labels
mean, and what makes the “green”
items healthier and better choices.
Alberta Hospital Edmonton has
celebrated five Quality Improvement
Weeks, the most recent in June 2006,
each highlighting the progress that’s
been made on a variety of projects.
Another component of the celebrations
is the Staff Recognition day, a twohour
open house held at the Dorran
Auditorium. Featuring education
displays that showcase the evolution
of quality at AHE, research, and highlights
from the other services within
the Regional Mental Health Program,
the event also recognizes the top five
annual initiatives from AHE as voted
on by hospital employees. The focus
is projects that contribute significantly
to patient care. It is a time to recognize
and thank staff for their valuable contributions
and dedication to improving
the system for enhanced patient care.
Hospital staff members enjoy the opportunity
to celebrate their successes.
“Staff also has access throughout
the year to a registry of completed
and ongoing QI projects to view all
the initiatives since 1999. The staff
is now able to apply best practices
to a number of similar quality issues,
without having to re-invent the wheel,”
says Rosie, who leads a team of quality
improvement professionals at AHE.
“The quality improvement registries
are now online at the AHE intranet site,
so people can access them whenever
they want.”
“The staff recognition component
of AHE’s annual Quality Improvement
Week is so important,” says Paula Tyler,
Vice-President and Chief Operating
Officer for Mental Health. “Quality
Improvement is most successful at the
grass roots level, with front-line staff
identifying an area for improvement
and putting together a team to address
and resolve the issue. The large majority
of projects are completed by frontline
staff with the full support of their
supervisors – that’s what makes this
week so special.”
Examples of previous initiatives
include the extremely successful
On Time, Every Time, a project undertaken
by Transportation Services to
determine the number and reason for
missed or late patient appointments.
By gathering data about circumstances
surrounding transportation issues,
the team was able to determine that
purchasing a small wheelchair van to
help accommodate the transport of
patients to their destinations would
help them meet their goal of being
on time, every time.
“The objective of Quality Improvement
Week is to strengthen the quality
culture of Capital Health,” says Paula,
who notes the projects from AHE aspire
to the same success as other regional
quality programs such as netSAFE,
Good Catch and the new medication
management program at the University
of Alberta Hospital. “As we strive
to increase our quality of service at
Alberta Hospital Edmonton, we are
helping raise the quality bar across
the region.”
Over the past five years the events of
Alberta Hospital Edmonton’s Quality
Improvement Week have grown
exponentially. Last year more than
300 people attended the Recognition
Day event, up from 160 at the second
annual event in 2003.
“164 quality improvement projects
have been presented to the Site
QI Committee from December
1999 to March 2005,” says Rosie.
“There is no question that the quality
improvement culture at AHE will
continue to be an important focus
for years to come.”
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