Reflections of 2002- Here are the top ten stories for our initiative called Pursuing Perfection in Whatcom County

# 1 - December 10, 2002    Rebecca Bryson joins Maureen Bisogano as  IHI National Forum Plenary Speaker      Rebecca receives standing ovation from 4000 conference participants after she shares her story of living with heart failure/diabetes and her experiences in the healthcare system- challenging us to continue the work of Pursuing Perfection.  Whatcom County recognized for their commitment to patient-centered care by its use of patients on design teams, committees- helping plan changes to the system of healthcare delivery.

#2- August 2002   Expanding Patient Voice   Recruitment of more patient family representatives begins in earnest.  By October weekly patient focus groups in place, orientation to program held at office and out in community by invitation, patients/family members added to ongoing hospital, P2 design groups.

#3- July - September 2002   Services to Patients Enhanced   Patients receive services of Clinical Care Specialists including collaboration in development of a shared care plan.  One patient uses it to increase efficiency and safety of 911 and ER services.  Physicians, paramedics and staff involved in situation agree - "every patient with chronic condition needs one of these."

#4 - September 2002  Community Outreach to Diabetes Patients   Joslin Site Visit occurs in September with community healthcare providers.  Over 140 patients/family members attend an evening to share experiences and learn effective ways to manage their condition

#5 October-December  2002     Innovations in Planned Care Pilot sites began group visits, partnered with the Diabetes and Nutrition Clinic, conducted focus groups and expanded/redesigned services to patients.  This included development of new registries to help organize information and collection of patient satisfaction information using a touchscreen computer in the office practices. One site began office redesign focused on efficiency, planned care and patient flow.

#6 - November - December 2002   Innovative Website and Electronic Shared Care Plan Launched Use of a paper shared care plan with patients was in use and from that learning a prototype using a secured website was built.  Simultaneously, a website to meet the information needs of patients with diabetes and heart failure was designed by patients  and released. 

#7- June - August 2002-  Grant Staff Selected  Pilot sites, patients, physicians and staff screen and select project staff to provide support for community change.  Group Health's behavioral interviewing process applied across a community setting seen as an excellent tool for employee selection.

#8-  October 2002   Pursuing Perfection Leadership Board membership finalized.  Pursuing Perfection partners invest time and leadership skills to ensure success of initiative beyond boundaries of grant.

#9  March 5, 2002-  Community Awarded Grant Community members received call from Don Berwick announcing  our selection as one of seven sites to receive a  1.9 million grant from RWJF to assist Whatcom County in achieving their vision- consistent with IOM Crossing the Quality Chasm Aims and New Rules

#10  February 5, 2002    Community Sells Vision of What's Possible Site Visit for review of proposal to RWJF.  Over 100 community members attended all or some of visit.  Rebecca Bryson and Kathy Brown, patient representatives instrumental in grant application kicked off day with stories of how their care/experience will be improved by a new redesigned system of care.

5:20:59 PM     comment []   Google It!  

•  Maureen:   Our vision is a decade ahead of others she's seen in the U.S.  Perhaps the world.  Our commitment to patient-centered and the efforts to integrate patient voices into the ongoing design of the system is much farther ahead of anything she's seen.  Our IT infrastructure is amazing.  Our communication methods outstanding.  She challenged us to keep a strong connection to clinical outcomes.  Are you, are patients healthier as a result of the change?  Run more cycles of change in small ways to move quickly.  Link the finance depts. into the work we are doing to ensure we are lowering costs.
• Connie:  Whatcom County is amazing, has a reputation in many areas as being a leader in this area...We are to be commended for taking on the difficult challenge of behavior change on three incredible levels:  patient, staff and system.  Remember the diffusion theory and start with people who are ready.  Renew energy to continue through the stories of patients whose lives are better because of changes made. 
• Polly:   Coming here is invigorating...the information and strategies we have in place gave her ideas for her own community and others she encounters.  The shared care plan may be the symbol of what this is really about and the best method for proving it.  Our vision-effort is broad in its enormity/complexity...and challenging to keep one's arms around.  Our greatest success 10 years from now will because word-of-mouth in the community will create the spread.  Stories need formalizing....in the patients she met today...there are stories to share....powerful and compelling.  She encouraged us to celebrate the little successes...look for them everyday.  She reminded us that  problems teach us and that the learning can be profound as we solve them.

4:45:02 PM     comment []   Google It!