One of the tasks of medical staff leadership is to look forward and see how we can best manage the change likely to occur. We are currently working on several things:
Quality/safety/engagement: Christine Clarke is now chair of the Quality Operations Committee, the board committee responsible for directing major change efforts. The A3 boards you see around the hospital are evidence of hospital administration channeling resources (both people and money) towards solving the problems identified by this committee.
Credentials: Darcy Blanchard is now chair of Credentials, working with the medical staff office to decrease the time taken to get privileges. They also are identifying easier, more standard ways to credential nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
MPRC: Jenny Williams is making sure the specialty committees have the resources and direction to help physicians understand the “white lines” on the roadway that define excellence in care.
Relationships: I have spent the last several months working to make the MEC more relevant to the medical staff. Several ideas have seemed worth implementing. First, Christine and I will begin to attend more section meetings through the year to make sure most staff have a chance to ask questions and present problems. Second, we will use this venue, the Common Ground newsletter, to bring forward issues for presentation. Third, our new relationship with OHSU will need to be managed, and my primary goal is to make sure OHSU approaches our providers by asking first what we need, and what we think, about issues. I would like this new relationship to be successful, for them and us.
Leadership: Cheryl Wolfe, Christine Clarke and myself meet every other week to discuss anything that might be of concern and to keep the lines of communication open. The hospital executive team has begun to meet regularly with sections, and we want to make sure issues raised get a pathway to being solved. This should result in better understanding and in areas where we disagree we can find common ground on how to move forward productively.
Please call, text or email any MEC member for more information on any of these topics or any other concerns you might have!