Happy Medical Staff Services Awareness Week to my fellow medical services professional whether you work in a hospital setting, managed care, group practice, medical school, or other health care entity type. Always remember you are valued, and your value increases with your continued education.
This past Friday, I attended the GAMSS 4th Quarter Conference, that’s GAMSS for Georgia Association of Medical Staff Services. It had an agenda packed with a wealth of information, but there was one specific presentation I found extremely helpful. It was about generally about behavior modification to minimize risk, maximize coordination, and to manage risk real time. Though the stories and examples used to convey the importance and the ability to implement behavior change for best outcomes had nothing to do with healthcare, it was extremely relevant to healthcare and to just about any other industry.
Why would behavior modification be so necessary? Think about what we do every day. That is our behavior. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what environmental factors, what processes, what systems we take for granted may also be the same factors that could create poor outcomes if not properly assessed? As a consultant, I am usually brought into an organization to help build, repair, or prepare a credentialing program. The goal is often to either make a brand-new department, to meet accreditation guidelines, or to obtain delegation agreements and sometimes to just train staff.
There are two factors I address when I arrive, and those are the two factors are foundation and structure. The foundation is the document, whether it’s called a business plan, policy, and procedure, or Medical Staff Bylaws. The document is: Why you exist. What you do. How you do. What mandates you adhere. That is the purpose of the foundation. The second factor is the structure which can be broken down into many pillars, but the most important is the people. Nothing happens without the people. That’s why behavior is important and knowing what to do when is even more critical. Hopefully, this just gave you pause for thought to determine what behavior modification needs to take place in your organization this week.