It’s been said that the race of life is a marathon, not a sprint. But the Clinical and Systems Transformation (CST) project doesn’t have a lifetime to improve the quality, safety and consistency of patient care across VCH, PHSA and PHC. Timelines are tight. There’s a huge amount of work to be done. And sprinting is the name of the game.

An agile approach

Critical care nurse Cynthia Startup, Senior Project Manager, Clinical Teams, CST, says the design teams have risen to the challenge of adopting an Agile approach, which is closely related to lean methodology and has been used in many other industries, including our health organizations. The CST project is applying it to the design, configuration and validation of our new clinical information system.

The Agile approach divides the work into two-week “sprints” that incorporate regular user feedback. That feedback is crucial in creating an end product that is functional and meets the needs of the user.

“Agile makes it sound like you’re working fast,” says Keith Dipboye, Chief Clinical Information Officer, CST. “It’s ultimately about producing the right thing.” At its core, Agile looks to shift the way that teams function – with each member accountable to the larger team and the goals they have set.

Everyone is working together

“We have a group of brilliant people working hard to establish the future state of our health system – from clinical processes to our new clinical information system,” says Cynthia. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a business analyst or a nurse or a physician – everyone is working together to get the work done.”

All of the design teams include subject matter experts from the health organizations. Collaborative Clinical Informatics Leads (also called Program Liaisons) serve as lead strategic connections between CST, the program area, professional practice and other key stakeholders within VCH, PHSA and PHC. Physician champions are also joining the project, providing further clinical expertise and guidance to the teams.

In June, clinical transformation workshops will be held at patient care sites to review design and workflows, and gather feedback.

“As we’ve adopted the Agile process, everybody’s feeling positive about how we’re approaching and engaging our health organizations in this important work,” says Cynthia.