Vishwas Anand Singh, MD, MS
NewYork Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell / Lower Manhattan Hospital, Department of Medicine
Project Name: Creation of a Unit-Based Collaborative Interdisciplinary Platform for Quality Improvement Initiatives
Mentor: Lauren Wasson
Sponsor: Wilhelmina Manzano
Goal: To create a standardized unit-based process that will be a platform for residents and nursing to collaborate on creating and implementing sustainable Quality Initiatives
Residents as front-line providers, are in a prime position to identify areas of inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement in daily patient care. However, they may not feel empowered to develop Quality Improvement initiatives due to lack of awareness of Quality Improvement infrastructure as well as what projects are already ongoing. Likewise, Nursing is also positioned as front line providers, and are leading their own Quality Improvement Initiatives and Projects, but are often not made aware of similar projects that are being undertaken by the Residents. They may also come across barriers of sustainability, as Physician Residents are not engaged in the projects, or frequently turn over due to rotation schedules.
I intend to create a standardized infrastructure and process which enhances communication and collaboration between Nursing and Residents to work together in identifying Quality Issues, move Quality Initiatives forward, and help guide QI projects to successful completion, with minimal disruption to workflow. This process will involve developing a brief orientation to Residents on current Unit Quality goals and projects, creating avenues of communication and escalation, implementing a process for seeking out and incorporating real-time feedback between Residents and Nursing on current and future potential projects, and developing a reference on each unit which will serve as a repository for projects, past and present. Such an interdisciplinary platform will help raise awareness of Quality Goals, increase efficiency, and avoid redundancy of QI projects, while hopefully leading to more Quality Projects being undertaken. On a larger scale, I hope this endeavor will lead to improved overall quality of care and patient outcomes, while promoting a culture of enhanced interdisciplinary communication and collaboration between all of our care providers, which is increasingly important in our rapidly evolving health care environment. I currently have outlined the rudimentary process, received approval from key leadership figures, and identified the unit on which the process will be piloted, after which I will review its effectiveness and revise as needed.
