Ever heard, “but we’ve always done it that way”? Ever wished you could find a better way?
Using Training Within Industry (TWI) methodology, the team at Baptist Medical Group (BMG), along with Director of Nursing and Clinical Services Tiffany Luckett, are finding new ways to do just about everything—and they’ve only just begun.
In February 2016, TWI methodology was introduced to 16 BMG employees in five 2-hour TWI – Job Instruction (JI) sessions. This past August, TWI Master Trainer Patrick Graupp facilitated a Certified Training Class for four BMG employees. Since that time, BMG’s Certified Trainers have facilitated TWI-JI 10-hour sessions for more than 40 employees from BMG and Baptist Memphis.
But that was only the beginning. In January 2017, Patrick facilitated a Deep Dive at BMG’s headquarters in Memphis to brainstorm the best job instruction tool (job breakdown) for use when training employees on how to perform specific jobs.
“Most impressive is that 23 employees, representing health information management (HIM), Baptist OneCare (BOC), information technology (IT), Baptist Cancer Center, Referral Center, Float Pool, the quality department, clinical services and several BMG clinics–Family Physicians Group, GI-Specialists, The Medical Group and The Light Clinic—sat for hours collaborating on what elements should be included in specific job breakdowns,” said Tiffany. “Subject matter experts who had never worked together collaborated with one objective: to improve care.
“With the support of our KATA coach, by Oct. 17, 2017, BMG will earn a Medicare Advantage Rating of 4 stars by deploying TWI,” said Tiffany. Job breakdowns thus far include:
Scanning and indexing outside documents. ”Outside documents (reports, consults) must be scanned appropriately into EPIC so they can be accessed when needed,” said Tiffany. “Over time, our clinics have developed workflows and created nomenclature for outside documents, and now we’re seeing the unanticipated consequences. When scanning and indexing is not consistently done the same way, it negatively influences patient care by delaying treatment, possibly leading to duplicate services, etc. We broke the job down, modified it several times and ‘test drove’ the job in one of our largest clinics. At first that clinic’s staff was apprehensive, but now they are eager to start implementation.”
Rooming. This is a critical moment during a patient’s visit, where a certified medical assistant (CMA) prepares the patient to be evaluated by the provider. There is a small window of opportunity to update the patient’s record. Failing to document appropriate items impacts the patient’s overall care/health and ultimately and subsequently affects the star rating. “Patrick helped us develop job instruction related to the use of clinical support tools such as best practice advisories (BPAs). Doing so allows the provider to be more efficient as well,” said Tiffany,
Lab collection and processing. “This job actually involves multiple jobs. In the Deep Dive we linked the jobs, so to speak. It reinforces that TWI is also applicable to complex processes,” said Tiffany.
While Tiffany and the BMG team are still in the test instruction phase, she is confident that implementation will be well received. “It’s encouraging to know that our organization is committed to improving patient care, but it’s an awesome feeling to actually invest the time necessary to be effective. I’ve been a nurse for 24 years, and I felt comfortable with my ability to train others. TWI methodology helped me accept there’s a better way.”