Blameless Problem Solving

WCHQ is on a journey to build a deliberate culture that will take our organization from good to great. We do this by focusing on behaviors (what we expect people to actually do) to align with our mission, vision and values.

Last month, I shared information about one of our fundamentals, Listening Generously, with our full Board of Directors. The behaviors expected to achieve this fundamental may seem initially impossible, especially in today’s virtual world. In order to listen generously, we expect our employees to not multitask during meetings.

Throughout my career. I have become accustomed to back-to-back meetings that leave no time for emailing or planning or any other non-meeting work. I've justified checking emails or finishing a report during a meeting with the belief that it was necessary to get work done. This pattern of being less than fully present has grown exponentially during the pandemic as virtual work made it possible to attend even more meetings. We find ourselves in a vicious cycle where the more meetings we attend, the more we need to multitask and the less efficient the meeting becomes, leading to the need for more meetings. 

At WCHQ, we have improved our ability to listen generously by addressing the root causes of multi-tasking and establishing expectations for highly effective and efficient meetings. Here are a few examples that I’m sure you will find in your organization:

• Employees were attending solely to hear information directly. Our solution was to establish a consistent process to communicate information to those that didn’t attend.
• A significant portion of meeting time was spent reviewing materials. We established procedures to distribute meeting materials in advance or the meeting would be cancelled.
• Leaders, in particular, were attending meetings without a specific role. It was easier to just attend the meeting and multitask than question whether one needs to participate. We reinforced the importance of being present and provided standard language about meeting hygiene so individuals could question and decline meetings without conflict.

As a collaborative, our culture applies also to our Board of Directors, partners and members. We want everyone that is a part of this organization to consistently behave in the WCHQ way. Our journey has been meaningful, productive, and even fun, and we're eager to share our learnings with you so you can apply them within your own organizations. We are happy to share more specific information about our journey; reach out if you want to know more.

‍In recognition of the WCHQ 20th anniversary in 2024, we are planning a member profile each month. ‍

‍Member Name: SSM Health of Wisconsin

Member Background Both as a System and with WCHQ: SSM Health Dean Medical Group was a founding member of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) in 2003 and has been publicly reporting data to WCHQ since 2005.

SSM Health Monroe Clinic became a member and began reporting in 2005. SSM Health Agnesian joined and began reporting in 2011, publicly reporting data since 2012. In August 2023, the three entities combined as one SSM Health of Wisconsin for public reporting.

Number of Providers: SSM Health of Wisconsin has 1,289 providers.

WCHQ Engagement: As a founding member of WCHQ, SSM Health has been involved with nearly every committee, and has been part of the creation of the many evidence-based Quality Toolkits available through WCHQ.  SSM Health currently serves on the Measurement Advisory Committee, Disparities Improvement Team and on the WCHQ Board.

How WCHQ has impacted the care at SSM Health: “WCHQ allows us to network and collaborate with organizations throughout the state of Wisconsin whether they are based in urban or rural communities,” says Sue Anderson, Regional President SSM Health Wisconsin and WCHQ Board member. “In sharing our data publicly, we can gauge the effectiveness of our own quality measures as compared with similar organizations across the region.  Working through WCHQ’s committees, we can contribute to the development of best practice toolkits to share effective practices to continually improve the quality of care for our own patients and patients across the state.”

On March 22, Governor Tony Evers signed Assembly Bill 914, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 195. This bill allows schools to adopt a plan for the management of pupils who have asthma. As part of this plan, a prescription for a short-acting bronchodilator can be issued in the name of a school (as opposed to an individual patient) so that this vital medication can be kept on hand. The act also allows the school to accept donations of short-acting bronchodilators or components. If a pupil is experiencing respiratory distress, designated and trained school personnel may administer the short-acting bronchodilator, regardless of whether that student has their own prescription for the medication. Finally, the act also grants immunity from civil liability to the designated personnel who administer the medication.

This is a huge win for school-aged children with both diagnosed and undiagnosed asthma in Wisconsin. Asthma is a common disease; 1 in 12 children in our state currently have asthma. Unfortunately, asthma is also a disruptive disease and 1 in 3 children with asthma miss school. Having a short-acting bronchodilator in stock at school has many benefits: children experiencing respiratory distress can be treated immediately, their caregivers may not have to leave work as often, the child may not have to miss school as often, the number of asthma-related EMS calls may be decreased, and ED visits may be prevented.

Over the next several months, the Wisconsin Asthma Coalition will be working with partners across the state to create a toolkit so that schools can easily and efficiently implement this act so that children across our state can benefit from it.

If your health system is interested in getting involved with WCHQ’s Asthma Advisory Group, contact Lori Bue, Quality Improvement Specialist, at lbue@wchq.org.

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WCHQ Webinar “Asthma Efforts Across Wisconsin: Showcase of Programs Making an Impact” May 15 

This important legislation correlates with Asthma Awareness Month, as well as WCHQ’s upcoming webinar, “Asthma Efforts Across Wisconsin: Showcase of Programs Making an Impact.” This free event, scheduled for May 15, will highlight four Wisconsin initiatives focused on asthma. To learn more or signup for this webinar, visit WCHQ website events section.‍

Four WCHQ health systems participated in the first session of a training called The Announcement Approach Training, which has been shown to increase HPV vaccination by five percentage points. WCHQ members currently have an overall HPV immunization rate of 69% while the Wisconsin Cancer Collaborative goal is 80%.

Six health systems have signed up to participate in the second wave of training, which started in April and will continue through June.  

Margaret Hennessy, MD, Pediatrician and Medical Director of Pediatrics at Ascension, shared this about Ascension’s participation in the project, “HPV vaccination was one of our quality metrics, so this fit into our program beautifully. We are already seeing improvement in HPV vaccinations in our clinics. The project staff were great, and I heard that the clinicians were very appreciative of the training. We plan to expand this into other clinics in the near future.”  

Twenty primary care clinics from three systems participated in 2023. Preliminary results from workshop participant surveys showed high satisfaction with the training.

• Almost all (>90%) participants agreed the training improves HPV vaccine communication and workshop facilitators were effective.
• Two months after the training, most participants (>90%) reported the approach taught in the workshop fit easily in their clinic workflow.

Results from the trainings will be shared with WCHQ health systems at the conclusion of the project after the team has an opportunity to analyze the data.  

To learn about this project, contact Jen Koberstein at Jkoberstein@wchq.org.

GOLD LEVEL

Novo Nordisk

SILVER LEVEL

Genentech

Merck

Pfizer

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BRONZE LEVEL

AboutHealth • The Alliance • Alliance of Health Insurers (AHI)

Bayer • Business Health Care Group • Epic • Exact Sciences

GSK • Health Payment Systems • MetaStar • Moderna

Otsuka  • Rogers Behavioral Health

Sanofi • WellStack • Wipfli • Wisconsin Hospital Association