Prescription: Get Talking
Better communication may improve lackluster hospital care
The research paper concludes that a significant factor in improving quality of care is the ability of senior leaders and clinicians to effectively communicate goals.
Veterans languished for months as they waited to see a doctor. Some, it was alleged, died as a result. The scandal that engulfed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers in 2014 led to congressional reports and press investigations. But questions about the level of care in America don’t stop at the VA—a 2013 government report labeled the quality of health care in the United States an underwhelming “fair.”
A study by Joseph Restuccia, professor of operations and technology management at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, investigates the extent to which VA hospitals are fixing deficiencies in care, and what others can learn from their efforts.
Restuccia, who examined the VA’s 124 acute care hospitals with experts from the department and from schools of medicine and public health, looked at the implementation of quality improvement activities (QIAs)—data-guided actions designed to bring about immediate improvement in health care delivery.
According to the study, the VA, the largest integrated health system in the United States, has devoted the most effort to prevention activities designed to thwart adverse reactions, such as contracting bedsores or other infections. Centers employing hospitalists, physicians who specialize in the practice of hospital medicine, had the highest QIA adoption rates.
The research paper, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, concludes that a significant factor in improving quality of care is the ability of senior leaders and clinicians to effectively communicate goals and align them throughout the organization.
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