As the fall weather brings a crisp change in the air, we’re eager to share what’s in store for the upcoming quarter. This season, we’re focusing on enhancing member experiences through new initiatives designed to support continuous growth. We sent out a survey to our community that can help us best identify ways in which we can enhance value to our community through programming. If you have not had a chance to fill in the survey, please take a few minutes and do so here.
In the next couple of months we look forward to bringing to you webinars focused on data analysis, AI in data and innovation in health delivery systems. We would also love to hear from our community and would encourage each of you to consider contributing articles for our newsletter as a way to foster dialogue among our members and community. Your articles will help share perspectives on how healthcare quality is enhanced, reflecting our collective commitment to innovation and excellence.
Lastly, if you are not a member, you are missing out- Join NEAHQ today! If you would like to learn more about NEAHQ or volunteer, please reach out. Thank you all for everything that you do. Looking forward to a productive and inspiring season together.
Aliysa Rajwani
Celebrate Healthcare Quality Week October 20 to 26
During Healthcare Quality Week, multidisciplinary professionals take a moment to celebrate and reflect on the critical importance of their work. Over the past few years, the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) has been rebranding the concept of Quality with a new vision: “The Power of Q.”
This vision is not just a theme but a comprehensive approach to elevating the profession of Healthcare Quality. NAHQ has been instrumental in standardizing healthcare quality competencies across the care continuum, ensuring that professionals are recognized at local, national, and organizational levels.
The Power of Q, The Power of You
“The Power of Q, The Power of You” is designed to celebrate the invaluable work of Quality Professionals and provide additional tools for career advancement. This initiative encourages reflections on the “Power of Q,” helps identify career paths within Quality and Patient Safety, and offers strategies for measuring success and creating a personal Quality Champion brand.
Opportunities for Professional Growth
Throughout the third week of October, Healthcare Quality Week features a variety of on-demand programs covering a broad spectrum of Quality and Patient Safety topics. These sessions, led by esteemed speakers, focus on continued professionalism in the healthcare quality space. They also provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the work of Quality Professionals to colleagues and those early in their healthcare careers.
As we celebrate Healthcare Quality Week 2024, we at NEAHQ recognize and honor each of you—dedicated Quality Professionals—who tirelessly work to improve patient outcomes and safety. Your commitment to excellence and continuous improvement is the cornerstone of a resilient and effective healthcare system. By embracing “The Power of Q,” we not only advance our careers but also contribute to a brighter, healthier future for all. Together, we can achieve remarkable progress and set new standards in healthcare quality. Thank you for your unwavering dedication and for being the driving force behind our collective success.
NEAHQ and our affiliated partner associations, as part of the multi-state Healthcare Quality Association Collective, have several great programs scheduled this fall. Some programs are free for NEAHQ members, while others are discounted. Visit our Events Calendar to connect to registration information for each of these programs or navigate through the links below. Thank you for your continued support and participation!
- OrAHQ presents Driving Continuous Improvement in the Quality and Safety of Patient Care 16 Oct 2024 11:00am - 3:30pm EDT
- MAHQ presents Patient Falls: Risk Mitigation Through the Magnifying Glass 24 Oct 2024 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT
- The Arizona Association for Healthcare Fall Conference, The Demands of Quality: Staying Ahead of the Curve! is available virtually. 25 Oct 2024 11:00am - 8:30pm EDT
- OAHQ presents A Successful Approach to Quality & Performance Improvement in Primary Care 30 Oct 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
- AzAHQ presents a 2-day conference, The Quality Journey 08 Nov 2024 10:00am - 6:00pm EST and 09 Nov 2024 10:00am – 2:00pm EST
- The Oregon Association for Healthcare Quality is hosting a CPHQ Review Course Thursday, 11/14, through Saturday,11/16 for three 4.5 hour blocks each day
- AzAHQ presents The Intersection of Healthcare Risk and Quality Management 21 Nov 2024 1:00pm - 2:00pm EST
- NEAHQ presents AI-Powered Insights: Redefining Patient Experience Analysis 04 Dec 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST
- FAHQ presents Intermediate Excel Skills to Get More from Your Data part 2 12 Dec 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST
High Reliability Organizations: The Superheroes of Healthcare
Check out the blog here.
NEAHQ currently has $39,110.56 in total assets as of the end of August 2024. Total revenue generated in 2024 YTD (Jan-August) is $2,888.85. NEAHQ generated $2,258.85 in revenue from membership dues while $630.00 came from program. Total expenditures for 2024 YTD (Jan-August) are $7,102.14. Total expenditures were made up of administrative and operating expenses.
As always, please feel free to reach out to treasurer@neahq.org with any questions.
Christine Smith, Quality Improvement Specialist Supervisor at Lowell General Hospital
Would you please share a brief overview of your career?
I came to healthcare later in my career. Having graduated from Northeastern with a degree in Criminal Justice, I spent 23 years working in corporate security for a world-wide computer company. Through various mergers and changing business needs, the footprint of this company was rapidly shrinking in my locale and I started to wonder about what was next. At 40, I took a position with a local health insurance company in the quality arena and I was hooked. From there, I moved on to working at a local hospital in the quality department and started thinking about going back to school and finally did so, earning my RN in 2010.
Which aspect of your current position is especially rewarding?
Collaborating with colleagues on how to identify and fix gaps in providing high-quality healthcare.
Has any one individual greatly influenced to your career?
I had the privilege of attending a woman’s conference where Donna Shalala was a guest speaker. When discussing her appointment to President Clinton’s Cabinet, she asked of the audience (paraphrased), “Do you think I was qualified to be Secretary Health and Human Services?” She told us no, she wasn’t but she had the skillset to be successful and that we should never limit our aspirations just because we may not have the identified skills; it’s more important to have the skills that will allow you to succeed as you grow into the position. That advice has stayed with me for 20+ years.
What led to your involvement with NEAHQ?
A colleague reached out to see if I would be interested and I agreed.
What are your goals as a NEAHQ Board Member?
I would love to see the reach of this organization expand and be a great resource for all quality professionals to access for information on improvement, data collection, accreditation preparation, all the myriad things professionals in quality deal with on a daily basis.
How do you balance your demanding professional life with your personal life?
Not easily which is why my friend and colleague, who got me involved with NEAHQ, is ready to have my head for getting this to her so late! Seriously, this is always a challenge and there is no easy answer. I do not have my work email go to my personal phone and I try to limit how much work I do at home so I can disconnect and recharge. Spa days here and there don’t hurt, either! Cuddling with the pug at night helps bring stress levels way down and staying connected with the important people in my life helps keep me in check as well.
The New England Association for Healthcare Quality (NEAHQ) is the regional association for healthcare quality professionals. Since 1975, NEAHQ has provided a forum where healthcare quality professionals across the healthcare continuum can join together to advance this specialty. Our vision is to empower healthcare quality professionals across New England to improve health. We aim to serve as the resource of choice for healthcare quality professionals across the continuum for networking, education, and information, as a collaborative, member-oriented, inclusive, and continuously improving organization.
Benefits of a membership to NEAHQ include:
- Free educational webinars: Access to over 25 free webinars a year through an education collective with other state associations.
- Membership Rates: Pay discounted rates to all NEAHQ events, including the annual conference.
- Healthcare Quality Job Board: Browse healthcare quality job opportunities to further your career or post an opportunity at your organization for other members to see.
- Member Forums: Use these virtual platforms to exchange information with other NEAHQ members about healthcare quality trends and issues. Member forums allow you to ask a question of your professional peers or share a best practice from your work to move healthcare quality forward.
- Archived Events: Did you miss an in-person event or webinar? As a NEAHQ member you can access archived events so you will never miss an opportunity to stay up to date with the healthcare quality knowledge.
- Member-to-Member Networking: Interested in connecting with your fellow healthcare quality professionals? Attend one of NEAHQ’s in-person networking events or create a profile on the website and connect with other members through the NEAHQ Website Membership Directory.
Membership annual dues are $75. To join, go to the NEAHQ website at https://www.neahq.org/join and complete the form online or download it and mail it in with your payment.
A Plan-Do–Study–Act (PDSA) cycle is a tool used to help implement change. PDSA cycles are the building blocks of iterative health care improvement. Each word in the tool signifies a different stage in the cycle; where you would move on to the next step in the process.
The process allows changes to be tested on a small scale, giving time for any adjustments to be made, before implementing the tested change on a wider scale.
What happens at each stage of the PDSA cycle?
Plan
Plan the change that forms the basis of your hypothesis (the thing you want to test). Plan what changes you think will improve your workplace and explain how you will test these.
Do
Test the change on a sample of participants internally, and then externally. Keep your “do” stage time limited so that you can move on in the cycle.
Study
Collect and analyze your data to determine the success of the change. Identify what worked well and what didn’t work so well, to inform your next actions.
Act
Use your analysis from the previous stage to start a new cycle (if required) or implement your change fully.
Health Equity Accelerator meets, formed by IHI Leadership Alliance
The IHI Leadership Alliance recently formed a Health Equity Accelerator to define an industry standard for establishing health equity measures. The group includes 12 US-based organizations from a variety of different health care settings. IHI Senior Project Director Nikki Tennermann and Project Manager Natalie Martinez share their learnings so far, takeaways from a recent Accelerator retreat, and upcoming plans for issuing guidance.
For more information, visit https://www.ihi.org/insights/defining-gold-standard-identifying-and-measuring-health-disparities
Patient Safety Rights Charter, World Health Organization
Patients have the right to expect safe, equitable, high-quality care. This 10-point charter serves to describe the establishment of a broad-based global action plan that enables foundational work to be done in support of patient safety. The right to dignity, competent clinicians, and medical record access are amongst the required elements of the charter. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/issue/patient-safety-rights-charter
To view the charter, visit https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240093249
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 106 – Using Data to Conduct More Effective Risk Assessments, June 2024.
On episode 106 of PSQH: The Podcast, Kenneth Rohde, president of KRRohde LLC, talks about how to use your data to conduct more effective risk assessments.
To listen to the podcast, visit https://www.psqh.com/podcast/psqh-the-podcast-episode-106-using-data-to-conduct-more-effective-risk-assessments/
Do you have a quality event happening that you would like your fellow NEAHQ members to know about? We are interested in original content about a successful project, recent promotion and any other quality news you would like to share. Please submit articles for approval and posting to admin@neahq.org.