Joseph Hospital.   The two units that are pilot sites are the Cardiovascualar unit managing Congestive Heart Failure and the Medical Care unit working with Diabetic patients.  As a member of the project and hospital guidance teams, I see one of my key roles in helping to facilitate communication within the organization.  In order for any change initiative to be successful, a thoughtful transition plan needs to be in place.  As we prepare for the process changes, one of the early steps in planning for transition is to sell the problem about the limitations of how are current healthcare system is unable to support patients with chronic illness.  Some members of our project team have had discussions recently about the fact that we are identifying solutions before we have adequately conveyed to the front line staff why we want to make the changes. We have identified that we want to do a better job in selling the problem to all of the pilot sites, inpatient and outpatient.  This is a very important first step.  The challenge is finding creative ways to communicate with very busy pilot sites in a meaningful way.

 

I am involved in developing additional venues to communicate primarily in the hospital environment.   Several modalities that have been used over the past few months, include a story board in the lobby, a dedicated column in the bi-weekly electronic newsletter, one on one interviews, live presentations to clinical groups and staff meetings, and a Hospital Update that was sent electronically in late August from Nancy Bitting, CEO.  The link to this document is http://www.peacehealth.org/apps/p2/document/DocumentDisplay.asp?DocumentID=81.   This Hospital Update document will be updated every few weeks as new developments occur.  I will be creating storyboards for all of the clinical areas that will give more detail about the project and will be updated over the course of the grant.  It remains a challenge to remain in the loop of all of the information as this complex project moves forward.  Ongoing communication and education will be critical to facilitate the success of this project.