Introduction:

Related:

Great chefs have the culinary/cooking knowledge and skills to make good food, but this is not a guarantee that he or she can do this or even make food that is safe to eat. These outcomes often require chefs to have additional non-culinary knowledge and skills. Chefs must demonstrate effective leadership to ensure 100% compliance with safe food handling procedures throughout every stage in the supply chain even though they do not directly oversee many steps. Without such compliance, there is a risk that the food presented may not be safe to eat. They need to be able to forecast ingredients list and use checklists so that all, not some or most, of the items needed for meals are at the restaurant when preparation begins. They need financial knowledge, so they do not spend $20 on ingredients to make meals that are sold for $10. Some chefs will need to know the features of suitable equipment and have the influencer skills to get these, not less durable items, purchased, while others will need advanced business skills to manage a restaurant. Most chefs will need a few non-culinary skills to make good food that is safe to eat.

Strategic non-clinical skills needed by providers to safeguard patient care:

Culinary expertise alone does not guarantee food is good or even safe to eat, just as clinical expertise alone does not guarantee medical care meets standards or is even safe. Many healthcare providers need non-clinical skills to consistently reach patient and other safety standards. A basic requirement is that all essential equipment, supplies, and medications are available and ready where they are needed. Any omission puts safe patient care at risk, especially in time-sensitive areas of care such as ambulances, emergency rooms, and throughout perioperative care. To achieve this objective some providers will need proficiency in planning need or forecasting and organization. Negotiation skills may be needed if there is resistance to purchasing essential items and budgeting skills may be needed if there are spending limits in place. These topics are mostly not found in medical education curriculum. Providers have unique knowledge in their specialty. This can be of great value to hospitals if it can be used to avoid shortages and outages of items during purchasing and inventory management, enable cost-effective expansion of services, and facilitating additional operational improvements. For this to happen, providers need to be included in the conversations and have a seat at the table where decisions are made.  Sitting at this table and being heard requires communication skills and various business knowledge and skills. Healthcare providers also have a unique knowledge of specific equipment. When providers lack knowledge of the essential features of equipment that make it complete, cost-effective and suitable, poor purchases decisions may occur. This can impair the capacity to deliver safe medical care.

Non-clinical skills needed by providers in management and other non-clinical roles:

Providers often give lectures and take on other responsibilities like simulation directors, crisis managers, as they did during Covid-19 outbreaks, and teach. Sometimes providers need to train workers in support roles, other specialties, and train future trainers. Leadership, teaching and lecturing skills may be useful for some providers with these duties.

Non-clinical skills needed by providers to ascend into management:

Every department needs a chief, and this is often one of the providers at the site. Often chiefs will need to make schedules, settle disputes, allocate resources, and report recommendations to management often without training in these areas. While some providers have these skills from family and community roles, others will need these non-medical skills, often quickly, to be successful. Providers often ascend hospital management and become CEO or CMOs. Hospital survival increasing depends on being able to provide quality care that is efficient. These young leaders must know the language of business and other financial skills. Providers often need some non-clinical skills and knowledge, to be able to provide safe, quality healthcare and to fill other medical roles.

Objectives of Healthcare Delivery Success:

“Healthcare Delivery Success – Part 1: Topics” is designed to be a calm space where providers can identify the strategic knowledge and skills they need to thrive and deliver safe, cost-effective healthcare. “Part 2: Seminars and Curriculum” is a collection of tools and resources designed to enhance the curriculum presented in “Part 1: Topics” and offer a diverse - including non-traditional – methods for effective instruction. It also has tools designed to help learners apply the information more easily. Both are incomplete and intended to serve as the initial framework to establish the space. Once an effective forum is established, “Topics” and “Seminars” in “Healthcare Delivery Success” can be modified or something better created, both are good options. Blessings, DS  

1.         Part 1: Topics of Strategic Non-Clinical Knowledge and Skills Needed for Healthcare Delivery Success: Is a list of topics that some providers will need for safe and successful healthcare delivery and to fill other roles.

2.         Part 2: Seminars and Curriculum to Strategically Equip Providers with the Non-Clinical Knowledge and Skills Needed for Healthcare Delivery Success: Is the resources and tools that support the curriculum and both teaching and applying “Topics”. It includes resources like WHO standards, checklists, SSIP guidelines, One Standard (OS) Assessments, Roadmap, and more. It also has tools like teaching videos, forecasting spreadsheets, schedule makers and more.

Part 1: Topics of Strategic Non-Clinical Knowledge & Skills Needed for Healthcare Delivery Success:

Key Skills and Knowledge for Success

Communication skills: *Clear, concise, closed loop, understood, professional, and heard are a few qualities of a successful communicator. Additional points include:

ð      Active listening

ð      Public speaking, technology, power point, zoom meetings +

ð      Delivering and interpreting various communication types: Verbal (what is said and not said and how it was said), non-verbal, visual, and written communications

ð      Professional

ð      Assertive communication to ask for items to increase the chance of getting them

ð       

Negotiation skills:  

ð      And success in: Reporting issues, defending position, and giving opinion

ð      Having a seat at the table where decisions are made

ð       

Career success planning:

ð      Networking, self-introduction, linked-in, media+

ð      Contracts, employment, benefits, retirement+

ð      Non-medical related opportunities like tv, radio, influencer, team physician, community outreach

ð       

Self-care:

ð      Intentional time with our Lord

ð      Buffer time, rest, managing stress- tools and techniques

ð      Exhausted, tired, hungry, temptation, addiction, burn-out

ð      “No” and boundaries

ð       

Money-individual:

ð      Financial fundamentals: Residency to retirement, savings, loans, debt, children’s education +

ð      Benefits: Wages, health, injury, and life insurance, retirement funding, pay date, time-off, vacation, attending national meetings, CME, equipment stipends

ð       

Business skills applicable to non-clinical, management, and other roles

Leadership:

ð      Decision making, even when decisions are unpopular and risk personal harm

ð      Delegation

ð      Team building, coaching and motivating staff to reach targets

ð      Resolving conflict, opposition by those who do not want lead

ð      Debriefing after a bad event

ð       

Money:

ð    Transparency

ð    Cash flow, profit and loss, fixed costs

ð    Revenue engines, such as orthopedics and surgical services to offset financial deficits such as infectious disease and neonatal ICU

ð    Funding, grant application, insurance, debt

ð    Accounts receivable: The most important function of any business

ð    Operational fitness: The hospital’s side: Money, profit, loss, accountability,

ð    Cost-effective decision making

ð     

Operations:  

ð      Safety first: Safety as a primary goal not a byproduct. The importance of systems grounded in safety, a culture and system of safety, infrastructure, the team, and no-blame

ð      The cost of unsafe, inefficient, fractured, fragmented healthcare. Economic and human impact of poor health care, non standardized care, duplication of services, on hospitals, communities and healthcare systems. (SSIP guidelines, antibiotic pressure)

ð      Workflows

ð      *Strategic planning and implementing cost-effective hospital improvements: Achieve safety standards, enhance quality, develop a competitive healthcare product, and strengthen hospital resilience

ð      Industry standards: For all staff groups, processes, departments, and algorithms

ð      *Proficiencies needed for all staff groups, provider types, and management (communications, accountability…)

ð      *Standardization

ð      *Checklists

ð      Operational fitness: Standardization, efficiencies, and protocols…

ð      Measurements of success Who is measuring. Why? (For funding? Healthgrades?)

ð  Cost to treat/cure: Benefits, who is paying/benefiting?

ð   

Management:

ð        Strategic Plan, business plans, and proposals

ð        Transparency, policy, oversite and accountability for safety and efficiency

ð        Situations: Impaired providers, bullies, theft, contagions…

ð         

Purchasing:

ÿ        The economics of good and bad purchases

ð        Planning purchases, evaluating and ranking needs, ensuring transparency, and executing the purchasing process.

ð        Sustainability, action and inaction

ð        Outcomes/costs

ð        Sustainability and the efficient use of resources

ð        *Equipment

ÿ  Qualities of equipment that make it durable and suitable, luxury vs essential

ÿ  Types of maintenance: preventative, curative and periotic care

ÿ      Daily maintenance and use of equipment

Costs:

ÿ      Calculating the total costs of items: Purchase price + operating costs + maintenance costs (preventative and corrective) +training expenses for use and upkeep + other ongoing expenditures

ÿ      Cost-effective purchasing with limited resources

ÿ      Cost of time and inaction

ÿ      Who pays/who benefits and cost allocation

ÿ      Predictable consequences of not investing in infrastructure

ÿ       

Equipment:

ÿ      *Needed Qualities in Equipment:

Quality improvement:

ÿ      Continuous improvement mindset and the path forward…

Budgets and forecasting needs:

ÿ     *Forecasting needs and budgets for a year and short term

ÿ    *Forecast needed items easily and without omission

Inventory maintenance:

ÿ LIFO, FIFO, rotation, meeting needs, theft…

Security:

Teaching skills:

ÿ Non-traditional learning: Problem-based learning, workshops, simulations, gamification, role-playing

ÿ Equipment, technology, and media

ÿ  

Practice management:

ð    Workforce: Projections, job descriptions and scope of practice, professional development, retention, burn-out…   

ð    Making work schedules

ð    Policy, benefits, conflict resolution…

ð    Human Resources: Recruiting, training, retaining, making contracts, firing staff …

ð    Payroll

ð     

Emergency readiness and Disaster plan: Emerging threats (Ebola/covid) and preparations, Sudden threats: Natural disaster (earthquake) and emergency responses. Sudden threats: Site, intruders in ORs +. Mass casualty, preserving capacity to provide care: Public voice+

ð      Emergency readiness

ð      Coordinating crisis responses, first response

ð      Press and media correspondence

ð       

Project management, planning and organization:

ÿ       

The next generation:

ÿ      Training programs – starting and sustaining, making tests

ÿ      Mentoring (Paul, Titus, Timothy, Phi) and being mentored

Notes: * Indicates One Standard (OS) resources for this topic

Part 2: Seminars and Curriculum to Strategically Equip Providers with the Non-Clinical Knowledge and Skills Needed for Healthcare Delivery Success: Work in Progress

1.   The first part of Healthcare Delivery Success begins with “Strategic knowledge and skills…”. The goal is to equip providers with specific knowledge and skills that they need or want and not everything about the topic. They will learn how to tell time and not how to make a watch.

2.   It is called “Seminars…” because the topics will be presented and learned quickly and concisely thus many learning opportunities are done in seminars.

3.   Ideally “Seminars…” will mostly not be taught in the traditional read, lecture and learn format. Many of the learners will be staff who work full-time. The traditional approach may be a sedative and perhaps sleep provoking after a full workday. Role playing communication styles, gamifying budget creation, and using problem-based learning and other – non-traditional teaching techniques, is the key to quick-efficient learning.

4.   One Standard has several resources to make proficiency in some subjects – like budgeting and forecasting need - easy. There are spreadsheets that calculate the number of items that will be needed in a year and their costs once data is entered.

Key Skills and Knowledge for Success: Resources – work in progress

Communication skills:

ð      Seminars – Additional Resources 1 – Dale Carnegie

ð       

Negotiation skills:  

ð    Book: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It―Unlock Your Persuasion Potential in Professional and Personal Life Hardcover – May 17, 2016 by Chris Voss (Author), Tahl Raz (Author)

ð     

Career success planning:

ð       

Self-care:

ð       

Money-individual:

ð       

Business skills applicable to non-clinical, management, and other roles

Leadership:

ð      How to coach and motivate staff to reach targets: How to Coach Employees to Maximum Achievement | Dale Carnegie