Throughout the GCC, the face of healthcare is changing. Many hospitals and medical clinics are facing increasing demand, diversity and compliance issues. Saudi Arabia, for example, has increased healthcare spending and is building new healthcare facilities, some of which are designed to meet the needs of the country’s many expatriates. Qatar is investing in healthcare technology in the form of new medical records systems and also as an export. Kuwait just opened a state-of-the-art clinic in Fahaheel, which brings the country’s number of medical facilities to nearly 150.
Concern for quality and standardization is also on the rise. The Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services has mandated that all of its hospitals be accredited by 2010. And the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan recognizes that ensuring high quality health services for residents is of the highest priority. The plan also states the Emirate’s intention to compete in the growing health tourism market, which requires healthcare facilities and providers of the highest caliber.
So how do we ensure that the facilities being built and expanded, and the initiatives being put in place, will result in the type of high quality, accessible healthcare system that is a hallmark of industrialized nations? In my experience, I’ve seen three criteria that typically distinguish leading healthcare facilities from those that are just getting by. These criteria are commitment to excellence, cross-functional teamwork and customer-based planning.
Commitment to Excellence
Accreditation is important but it’s only a place to start. Commitment to excellence requires going beyond the measures called for by JCAHO, CCHSA, JCI, etc., and setting an even higher standard. This can only be achieved with continuous improvement. Consider Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, generally regarded as one of the best hospitals in the United States. In 2001, 18-month-old Josie King died under the hospital’s care due to medical errors. After the incident, the hospital recommitted itself to excellence through Six Sigma (which evolved into a Lean Six Sigma program).
In addition to minimizing mistakes and improving patient safety, Lean Six Sigma and other quality initiatives result in improved turnaround time for services, bed availability, discharge, and the like, all of which go toward creating a better patient experience. Quality programs provide the tools to establish, measure and achieve the highest standard and, thus, drive healthcare facilities to excellence.
Cross-functional Teamwork
Healthcare is one of the most team-oriented professions around. Think of how many people you interact with when visiting a physician — usually one or more receptionists, a nurse and your doctor. If you need blood drawn or x-rays, someone else may do this. If you’re in the Emergency Room or the hospital, the number of people taking care of you increases exponentially. One might assume that, given such inter-dependence, healthcare professionals and administrators would know how to work together seamlessly. But often everyone is extremely busy and overworked, and when that’s case, teamwork can go out the window.
I recall an example of a hospital that sought to reduce the length of time patients spent on ventilators. The process of weaning a patient off a ventilator involved eight separate departments. Most remarkable is that each department had a different procedure, and they did not realize the procedures were in conflict. Working together, personnel from each department developed an optimized process, which reduced total ventilator days by 38 percent, and also reduced ICU length of stay by 23 percent for vented patients.
The moral of the story is that cross-functional teamwork cannot be taken for granted, especially in such a high-paced and demanding environment as a clinic or hospital. Unfortunately, deficiencies in teamwork often go unnoticed until something bad happens, such as a patient contracting complications or dying. In the best facilities, however, teamwork is enabled through the continuous monitoring of processes, procedures and outcomes. This results in a proactive, instead of reactive, environment, which further contributes to collaboration and goodwill amongst employees.
Customer-based Planning
Heeding the voice of the customer is key to the success of any business, but especially in healthcare. Sometimes a bad experience is a symptom of a more serious lapse in patient safety. More often, though, a bad experience will determine whether or not an individual will return to a particular hospital, clinic or physician, and also if they would be likely to refer the facility to friends and family.
When considering the patient experience, the most successful facilities go beyond tending to the patient’s immediate health-related issue. Such facilities consider the patient’s state of mind, and thus provide a pleasing waiting room and a straightforward check-in process. They consider the patient’s time, and thus streamline systems so a clinician can see the patient as quickly as possible (regardless of the seriousness of his illness or injury). These facilities also consider the needs of family and friends who may be accompanying the patient, and thus provide on-site facilities for meals, childcare, religious counseling, etc. As we build or expand healthcare facilities in the GCC, we need to put ourselves in the patient’s place, and plan infrastructures that will meet all the foreseeable needs of our customers.
