iNICQ Value Compass Collaborative (2006)
The Vermont Oxford Network is pleased to offer a new six part Internet collaborative, The NICU Value Compass: Pointing the Way to Better Outcomes. This series will begin on May 10, 2006. Under the direction of William Edwards, MD and Gene Nelson, DSc, participating multidisciplinary teams will learn to assess their unit's performance across important domains of outcomes to assess/improve quality and value of care. Teams will apply Value Compass thinking to their unit using tools and methods that have been tested by teams that have participated in the Network's intensive NICQ collaboratives.
What is the clinical Value Compass?
The clinical Value Compass, named to reflect its similarity to the NSEW compass rose, has at its four cardinal points
- functional status and well-being
- costs
- satisfaction with care
- clinical outcomes
It is a tool for monitoring performance across all of these domains in support of improvement. The measures in each quadrant of the value compass are driven by key underlying processes of care. In this iNICQ series we will explore the measures that NICU teams are using for each quadrant of a NICU specific Value Compass, and will identify the key processes that drive performance for those measures.
What are the goals of the iNICQ series?
- To promote understanding of the NICU Value Compass
- To assist NICU teams in developing and using their own Value Compass
- To identify key NICU processes that drive outcomes
- To improve the quality and safety of care for newborns and their families
What will be included in the series?
The series will include six interactive, 90-minute Internet sessions. Multidisciplinary teams from participating hospitals will view the slides over the Internet using Webex technology, and listen to the presentations and participate in the discussions via a conference call over a standard phone line. Many teams choose to meet in a conference room, project the slides using a digital projector, and connect to the audio with a conference speaker phone. Each session will include a pre-work self-assessment package. A 30 minute team exercise will be scheduled following each 90 minute session. This is an opportunity for the local team to test and implement change ideas learned in the sessions. A dedicated email discussion list will support the Value Compass initiative. A provisional schedule follows.
Topic Areas are as follows:
- May 10, 2006 • Session 1: Introduction and Overview
What is the Value Compass?
How will help us improve our NICU?
Using the web of causation to identify key processes
- June 21, 2006 • Session 2: The Clinical Quadrant
Clinical measures for the Value Compass
Key processes that drive clinical outcomes
- September 13, 2006 • Session 3: The Satisfaction Quadrant
Satisfaction Measures
HowsYourbaby, an Internet tool for families
Key processes that drive satisfaction outcomes
- October 25, 2006 • Session 4: The Cost Quadrant
Cost and resource measures
Key processes that drive cost outcomes
- January 17, 2007 • Session 5: The Functional Quadrant
Measures of functional outcome
Key processes that drive functional outcomes
- February 28, 2007 • Session 6: Case Studies
What have we learned?
Case studies from the participating teams
Next steps