Regional Hospital QI Network

Purpose

To serve as a source of support for a group of hospitals

Includes hospital staff who have the power to make system-wide policy changes

Provides them with resources, information and opportunities to brainstorm, share challenges and successes and learn from each other.

Description

The BBC Regional Hospital QI Network is a monthly forum for continuing education, interactive consultation and discussion, and serves as a source of support for participating hospitals. Two of the BBC Regions held face to face meetings. A third region, due to the large geographic area with widely scattered hospitals, held monthly telephone conference meetings. Although not as ideal as face-to-face contact, these teleconferences still serve to support those administrators and leadership staff working to make changes in their hospitals.

Who Should Attend

Participants should include hospital decision-makers such as the maternal child health director, OB Manager, NICU Manager, Nurse administrator/managers, lactation consultants, BBC trainers and hospital QI team members. In addition, leadership staff who are identified as “reticent to change” as well as the “champions”, are valuable in this group.

Timing and Location

Rotate meetings among hospitals. Some found it best to meet at noon, but others found it best to meet first thing in the morning.

Topics Covered

Although originally the groups met with speakers on particular topics, they quickly found that the most helpful use of their time for both the face-to-face meetings and teleconferences was to set agendas based on the group’s needs. This way they could discuss challenges among themselves, and brainstorm or develop solutions. Examples of topics covered include:

acquiring physician support and buy-in

banning formula bags

implementing skin to skin for cesarean births

visitor policies that limited early visitors in order to allow for early skin to skin time between Mother and baby.

Networks find it best to concentrate on one Quality Improvement Measure at a time (for example rooming-in) and develop tools to measure the current or baseline level and then measure the effect after new or revised policies are implemented. They collectively agree to work on a specific issue and report progress at monthly Network meetings. Network members hold themselves responsible for the goals and tasks they set for themselves.

Choose individual tools below or All Regional Hospital QI Network Resources