09apr Association News

Contents

Message from the Board

Quality Collaborative

HQF Grant Applications Due April 24

For many, taking advantage of NAHQ’s many opportunities to network and share best practices is proving a challenge in these tough economic times. Fortunately, Healthcare Quality Foundation (HQF) grants can make that possible—but grant applications are due Friday, April 24!

HQF New Quality Professional Grant: This grant is for a NAHQ member who has been in the healthcare quality field less than 2 years and is not yet a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ). The grant is for $1,000, which can be used for travel and registration expenses for attendance at either a NAHQ CPHQ Review Course or NAHQ’s annual conference. One grant is awarded annually.
HQF Career Development Grant: This grant is aimed at a NAHQ member who has been in the healthcare quality field at least 5 years and is a CPHQ. The grant is for $1,000, which can be used for travel and registration expenses for attendance at either a NAHQ CPHQ Review Course or NAHQ’s annual conference. One grant is awarded annually.
HQF Certification Grant: This grant awards financial assistance to healthcare quality professionals who have not yet attained the CPHQ credential by sponsoring their fee to take the exam. The total number of awards and amount of the awards is determined annually by the HQF Board of Trustees.

Visit www.nahq.org/hqf/ for registration forms.

CPHQ Review Course: June 18–19

NAHQ’s CPHQ Review Course will be held June 18–19 at the American Heart Association in Marietta, GA. Nancy Claflin, PhD RN CCRN CPHQ FNAHQ, will lead the course. This day-and-a-half workshop is designed to help those who are planning to take the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) examination. The course will follow the exam matrix and will help you focus your study efforts. Participants should come to the workshop with functional knowledge in areas identified in the CPHQ exam outline, available at www.cphq.org.
The course will present information on healthcare quality methods, information management, strategy and leadership, change management and innovation, continuous readiness, and patient safety. Q-Solutions: Essential Resources for the Healthcare Quality Professional, Second Edition, is recommended for the course. Please note that this book is available for purchase together with the Review Course registration for a 10% discount (you must purchase the book at the same time as your registration in order to receive the discount). Note: Completion of NAHQ’s CPHQ Review Course does not guarantee a passing grade on the examination. Click here to register.
Another valuable study tool is the CPHQ Self Assessment Exam. Information is available in NAHQ’s online store. This exam may be taken either before or after the CPHQ Review Course to help assess exam preparedness. The cost is $275 for members, $325 for nonmembers, and $425 for those who join NAHQ and register for the course at the same time.

Quality Boot Camp: June 19

“Quality Boot Camp: Basic Training for Improving Organizational Performance” will be held June 19 at the American Heart Association in Marietta, GA. Kathryn Clinefelter, MSN MBA CPHQ FNAHQ, of the University of Florida–Gainesville, and Sandi O’Neal, MS MEd RN CPHQ, Florida Health Care Plans, Holly Hill, FL, will lead the workshop. The workshop presents basic concepts of organizational improvement using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence as a framework. Participants will learn the leadership skills necessary to establish a culture for quality, focus on the needs and expectations of the customer for quality, and use data and analyses that support process improvements. The Plan-Do-Check-Act model will be used to identify opportunities for improvement related to Joint Commission, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and other accrediting bodies’ quality standards. The cost is $275 for members, $325 for nonmembers, and $425 for those who join NAHQ and register for the course at the same time. Click here to register.

NAHQ to Initiate Market Research

At the NAHQ board meeting in February, board members discussed initiating new market research this year. This initiative is a follow-up to market research conducted in 2005–2006. Current plans call for developing a request for proposals to select a research company. The focus will be on globalization issues, a changing membership and customer base, ways to add value to NAHQ, and the changing face of the healthcare industry. Researchers will question who makes up a quality team, how composition is related to practice setting, and how quality is spread across the continuum. This research is slated to be completed before NAHQ’s 2009 annual educational conference.

Book Review: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Author Patrick Lencioni is on a roll. After writing two best sellers, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, he has published The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. This is an outstanding book if you are looking to build a new team or improve a troubled one. ne of the best features of the book is that Lencioni makes this complex topic fun and easy to read—and its message can apply to any setting. This is not a dry textbook chock-full of facts, team principles, and steps to create a team. Rather, he makes his point by skillfully telling a “leadership fable” about a new CEO who is faced with fixing a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down an entire company. You meet the CEO and each team member and learn a little about the motivation of each person.

    The book is written in such a way that you can relate to all of these characters; you’ve met their types in the workplace. There is actually a little suspense involved: Will the CEO stay? Will someone on the team be fired or quit? Will the team succeed?
    To his credit, Lencioni combines fun with valuable how-tos. Woven throughout the book is a practical guide to using his Five Dysfunctions Model to improve a team, with “absence of trust” serving as the model’s foundation. The pyramid model also includes the dysfunctions of “fear of conflict,” “lack of commitment,” “avoidance of accountability,” and “inattention to results.” He explains that teamwork deteriorates if just one of these dysfunctions is allowed to flourish.
    Lencioni presents the model clearly and concisely. He provides concrete examples for overcoming each dysfunction and explains the role of the leader in each situation. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a simple but insightful and powerful book. Most important, Lencioni leaves the reader with ways to take action to overcome team dysfunctions and to become an exceptional leader of a highly effective team.
Reviewed by David Loose, MSN RN NEA CPHQ, chair, Healthcare Quality Certification Board

Product Feature: How to Powerfully View Data When "Yucky" Events Are Rare!

Featuring Sandra K. Murray, MS RD
When dealing with rare events—falls, needle sticks, infections—standard run charts or control charts are not always accurate. Using two newer control charts, T and G, to track time or counts between rare events is more appropriate for healthcare quality. How to Powerfully View Data When "Yucky" Events Are Rare! explains the rationale for understanding and using appropriate data. Purchasers of the presentation will receive an e-mail containing the download link and will have access to the presentation, formatted as a downloadable voice-over Microsoft PowerPoint file, for 45 days. To purchase, go to www.nahq.org. The cost is $99.95 for members and $129.95 for nonmembers. (Those completing the presentation and evaluation will receive 1.25 CPHQ CE hours.)

NQF Conference Focuses on Reducing Waste in Healthcare

Barbara Corn, director, Quality and Affordability, UnitedHealthcare, Maryland Heights, MO

Barbara Corn, who represents NAHQ on National Quality Forum’s Quality Measurement, Research and Improvement Council, reported on NQF’s spring membership meeting and implementation conference, “Waste Not, Want Not: The Right Care for Every Patient,” held March 25–27 in Cleveland, OH. The conference focused on reducing waste in healthcare to provide care that not only costs less but is higher quality.

In his keynote address “A Vision of the U.S. Healthcare System without Waste,” Denis Cortese, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic, focused on the use of nontraditional providers for healthcare and ways to link complex systems of care. James Weinstein, director of Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, gave the closing keynote address, “Moving Toward a System of Health, Not Healthcare.” He discussed rational healthcare versus rationed healthcare, calling for more focus on the patient and his or her experience. Click here for more information and access to the conference presentations.

NAHQ Career Center Joins the National Healthcare Career Network

On April 15, 2009, the NAHQ Career Center joins the National Healthcare Career Network (NHCN). NHCN is a growing network of healthcare associations that provides access to more than 7,000 job applicants and will significantly increase exposure to healthcare recruitment postings on the NAHQ Career Center. Please visit www.nahq.org to learn more and post your current job opportunities in the field of healthcare quality. For more information contact Randi Romanek, NAHQ national sales manager, at rromanek@nahq.org.