In January 2019 we re-designed our ward structures at University Hospital around a geographic ward model that
co-locates providers on a single unit to achieve the following goals:
Instead of…
…Imagine if
Little or no connection between team members
Personal connections between team members
Lack of interprofessional teamwork
Daily interprofessional team huddles/meetings
Waste in travel time between units
Economy of movement on one unit
Constant multitasking
Focus
Lack of defined leadership presence
Effective and well-known unit-based leadership
Lack of improvement infrastructure
Improvement work included in daily flow
Lack of team specific data
Unit-based data to drive team performance
Idiosyncratic rounding strategies
Structured interdisciplinary bedside rounding
Uncoordinated scheduling
Coordinating scheduling
Emphasis on process
Emphasis on outcomes
We saw early successes with geographic wards. Teams had new opportunities to get to know nurses better and have in person discussions with consultants on rounds. We developed standardized interdisciplinary communication and workflow including daily interprofessional team huddles.
And as expected, we also experienced significant challenges in work, including an increased amount of patient handoffs.
However, we are not afraid to tackle difficult problems. Changes like this are considered complex service
interventions requiring continuous improvement science to get it right.
If you are interested in more detail in how we improve, watch the videos below, parts of a grand rounds given by our Geographic Wards leader and associate program director Danielle Weber:
You will be encouraged to join our improvement groups to learn and contribute teams and system science.
The opportunities are endless but here are some goals for the future:
Improve interdisciplinary communication related to patients not on our geographic wards (“rover patients”)
Develop a system for residents to receive data related to ongoing quality improvement projects
Participate in the Acute Care Pathway for residents that includes education related to specific inpatient systems-based care topics
University of Cincinnati Department of Internal Medicine 231 Albert Sabin Way Medical Sciences Building Room 6058 PO Box 670557 Cincinnati, OH 45267-0557
