par.a.gon [par-uh-gon, guh n] - noun
a model or pattern of excellence or
of a particular excellence.
Michael D. Howell, MD MPH
Director, Critical Care Quality
Associate Director, Medical Critical Care
Silverman Institute for Healthcare Quality and Safety
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School
2010 SCCM Paragon Chair
WE COACH - YOU TRANSFORM - PATIENTS IMPROVE
View the Paragon brochure
View 39th Annual SCCM Congress "Commit - Transform - Improve" Opening Video
Hospitals Contact: Lori Harmon, Paragon Program Manager
+1-847-493-6403, lharmon@sccm.org
Sponsors Contact: Jim Flanigan, Director Marketing
(View Sponsorship Details) +1-847-827-7282, jflanigan@sccm.org
Desiree Ng, Industry Relations Manager
+1-847-827-7188, dng@sccm.org
PARAGON: UNIQUELY CRITICAL CARE
- Expert critical care QI leaders with an outside view and perspective;
- Multiprofessional focus and coaches;
- Custom program with additional benefit of ICU collaborative learning networks;
- Return on investment within six months to one year; and
- Opportunity to change the way the team works and improve the way care is delivered.
Background
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) maintains that the best way to improve staff satisfaction, enhance patient outcomes, and boost the financial performance of critical care units in hospitals is to deliver Right Care, Right Now™. Efficient, safe patient-centered care can be achieved by establishing a standardized ICU structure of integrated multi-professional teams led by a trained and present intensivist. Multiprofessional teams should be characterized by the following attributes:
- Trust and transparency
- Collaboration and communication
- Appreciation of complimentary roles for a shared purpose
- Leadership, action and accountability
These high performance teams work together as a single, cohesive group with an orientation toward clinical excellence leading to optimal patient outcomes. Improving the hospital ICU is:
Good for physicians and staff - Better for hospitals - Best for patients
Unique Barriers and Opportunities
Changing ICU structures can be challenging but even small changes, seemingly simple steps, can make a large difference in experiences and outcomes for patients and their families. Going from good to better, from better to best and crossing the bridge to excellence is a dynamic and ongoing process.
Since many ICUs have similar barriers and opportunities, working collaboratively with external peers in consultations across disciplines is very beneficial. Exploring change strategies and discovering how colleagues across the country have improved reliability and embedded best practice into their critical care units is valuable. Unique health care delivery systems require unique strategies for change. The time is now and the need for change is urgent.
Up to 30% of acute care hospital costs are generated by patients in intensive care units while they occupy only 10% of the beds. Units that induce harm unintentionally due to a lack of systems design supporting reliability lose staff, are expensive to operate and most importantly do not meet their obligation to the patients and families that depend on them for care. Patient and family satisfaction drives consumer choice and dictates hospital market share so dedication to remarkable excellence on every level is crucial. Be it end of life care or positive outcomes, the experience in an ICU can make or break a hospital's reputation.
Choose Paragon
Paragon Critical Care Quality Implementation Program™ (Paragon) offers hospitals an unparalleled opportunity to benefit from the experiences of peer critical care leaders dedicated to performance improvement. Engaging tools provided by SCCM and others, Paragon utilizes a combination of:
- Self-assessment
- Tele/web conferences
- Site visits
- Peer collaboration
- Coaching
Paragon comes to your hospital personally and works directly with your team. The primary goal is movement toward an engaged multi-professional model assisting hospital leadership teams in transforming targeted areas of clinical practice/operations. Since performance improvement work requires time, dedication and resources the process is designed to deliver immediate impact combined with long term, sustained improvement.
Motivated members of a critical care team and hospital administration work together with SCCM expert members to identify performance gaps, explore pathways for success, and improve the reliability of processes within the critical care micro-system of the hospital.
Learn More and Act Today
Act today to transform your unit to one that:
- Acknowledges the high-risk, error prone nature of critical care
- Reports errors and close calls to improve the system that caused the failure
- Nurtures collaboration across the multiprofessional team valuing everyone's unique contribution
- Takes the time to care remembering the patient and family's needs during their time of crisis
For more information read "Quick FAQs" and contact:
Lori Harmon, RRT, MBA
Paragon Critical Care QI Manager
+1-847-493-6403
lharmon@sccm.org
Additional SCCM Resources:
SCCM Pod-104 Paragon Successes
The Paragon Critical Care Quality Implementation Program is a quality-focused program that aims to bring effective, tailored improvement strategies to hospitals. William A. Brock, MD, FCCM, is outgoing chair of the Paragon committee and a Paragon coach. Carrie Ogilvie, CCRN, MS, RN, participated in the Paragon Pilot Program and also went on to become a coach. Both discuss the importance of quality improvement and detail the successes of this initiative. Released: 4/2/09