Internal Learning Systems: Allowing Staff to Lead Quality Improvement Efforts

Embarking upon improving quality within large companies is an overwhelming task. While turning to consultants, implementing support software programs, or looking to management may be the initial impulse, recent efforts have shown that turning to staff for leadership in quality improvement endeavors may be the better option.

Letting Hospital Staff Lead Quality Improvement Efforts

One of the most influential reviews of this type of quality improvement effort is explained in an article by Health Leaders Media. Hospitals are employing a “high reliability” technique. Per Health Leaders Media, “high reliability is the technique of standardizing high-risk processes.” In short, this technique helps to create an internal learning system where staff members are able to provide real-time feedback on processes.

Per Jay Bhatt, D.O, chief medical officer and president of the Health Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association, high-reliability hospitals push staff to enter leadership roles as they are acutely “aware of how different processes and systems effect the organization … Each member of the staff is really thinking about those operations.”

Implementing an Internal Learning System

Internal learning systems can be useful outside of a hospital setting. In fact, high reliability processes originated in non-hospital industries where safety was oftentimes the difference between life and death, such as “nuclear power, aviation, and other industries where errors can have disastrous consequences.”

Outside of the high reliability setting, an internal learning system aids companies to meet the learning or training needs of staff, primarily field staff, participants, as well as larger groups. This type of quality improvement effort is designed for success.

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