Virtual Seminar Series

NEW! Participants in either program receive complimentary registration to all virtual seminars in
the 2008 Forces of Change Series.

Register for Forces 2008

Download the 2008 Brochure


In addition to the April and September programs, Forces also features three live and interactive virtual web seminars. The virtual seminars offer an opportunity to closely examine the dominant changes in the evolving health care market. All you have to do is register for either Forces program and check the box of each Virtual Seminar you would like to participate in.


 

Creating a Culture of Safety:
The Need for a Fundamental Change in the Approach to Reducing Medical Errors
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 (Date has expired)
1:00–2:30 pm (EST)
Presenter:
Paul Worland, PhD, Chief Operating Officer and
Chris Hickey, Vice President, Customer Service, and Innovation
Press Ganey Associates, Inc.

For nearly ten years, the health care industry has had increasing attention and scrutiny on patient safety. The industry continues to pour a great deal of time and resources into solving this problem, but it is not going away. In spite of national initiatives and hospital-specific programs to address the problem, medical errors—the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S.—continue to be a significant problem.

The answer is in the approach health care organizations take to reducing medical errors. While better technology and system design have improved patient safety, the most technologically advanced system can not prevent human error. In fact, opportunities to prevent mistakes are often missed because of cultural pressures to look the other way, or accepted attitudes that a certain attention to detail is "good enough." Measuring safety culture reveals what areas must change for the sake of patient safety. Improving safety culture enhances clinical outcomes and decreases preventable errors by creating an environment of transparency in which team members feel comfortable and even encouraged to talk about near-misses and potential risks to a patient's safety.

Attendees of this session will learn about the fundamental approach to improving safety culture, including: understanding the biggest drivers of safety culture; hospitals' strengths and areas of opportunities in terms of existing cultures; examples of how safety culture affects the outcome of situations with potential medical errors; and specific best practices for improving safety culture. Attendees will also learn about the specific return on investment of measuring and improving safety culture-from saving millions of dollars (billions on a national scale) to better clinical outcomes to improving patients' perceptions of their care, and, most importantly, saving patient lives.

Dr. Hall and a Press Ganey expert on safety culture will draw on national data and trends to highlight the importance of this approach and how it can impact your organization. They will also explore specific best practices being employed by leading health care organizations for improving safety culture and some of the pitfalls to avoid along the way.

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The Collaborative Supply Chain
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
1:00 - 2:30 pm (EST)
Presenter: Mark J. Solazzo, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
North Shore-LIJ Health System

As health care continues to experience pressures of insufficient reimbursement, increasing capital need for infrastructure and technology investments, and continuing consumerism trends; the search for opportunities to further decrease expenses, promote efficiencies and enhance customer service is paramount.

North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System established a new organizational structure that guides the on-going transformation of the supply chain function to leverage the enormous buying power of its $1.1B annual supply spend and to complement the strategic imperatives regarding clinical quality, service excellence, operational efficiency, and financial performance. Our organizational design is built on criteria including the ability to balance physician preference with the hospital’s ability to remain competitive; control the introduction of new technology; and ensure a clear and consistent process for the evaluation of goods and service.

Borrowing from lessons learned in retail and manufacturing sectors this transformation focused on the establishment of effective governance, active leadership, cross organizational integration, resource management, stakeholder relationship management and relevant performance metrics to guide continuous improvement.

Through it, we hope to identify preferred products and to negotiate the most cost effective contracts, so that ‘best practices’ include consistent use of high quality materials necessary
for outstanding patient care and patient satisfaction.

The accountability for supply chain activities lies with value analysis teams whose guiding principles include assuring quality patient care, utilizing data to drive decision-making, ongoing communication of changes, and planning introduction of new products and processes to minimize disruption and waste. In addition to managing costs, operational improvements around inventory management as well as requisition and purchase order management are increasing the satisfaction of key stakeholders - enabling clinicians to spend more time at the bedside with the right equipment and tools they need to provide their patients with the highest level of care.

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Driving Business Performance:
The Art and Science of Strategic Workforce Planning and Workforce Effectiveness
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
1:00–2:30 pm (EST)
Presenter: Roselyn Feinsod, F.S.A, Principal
Towers Perrin

Workforce capability and availability are critical to driving business performance over the next decade. Health care, in particular, faces unprecedented challenges as demand for its services grows—in line with our aging population—in an environment of growing shortages in key skill areas, increased talent competition from other healthcare providers (such as homecare providers and nursing homes) and new or changing skill requirements brought on by changing technology.

Is your organization prepared for these challenges? Do you have a strategy and plan to meet future talent needs? Learn what other leading organizations are doing now to ensure they have the right people with the right skills in the right places at the right time.

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How Does the Virtual Seminar Medium Work?

Easy and convenient! You just need a phone for the audio and an internet connection so that you can watch the slides and other information on the Web. You will be able to ask questions of the presenter(s) and submit questions from your keyboard. No downloads or special hardware—a dial-up connection will work fine. Take advantage of this inexpensive way to receive quality and timely information as an individual or a group. No travel, no time away.


Credit

The Harvard School of Public Health is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Harvard School of Public Health designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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For fees, payment policies, and registration, click HERE.

If you would like to just register for one or more of the Virtual Seminars please download this form, complete it, and fax it to 617-384-8690.

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