#3 Avoid The Everything's Quality Trap

We began the year with a list of 7 ways your health center leadership and mid-level managers can start the year off on the right foot. So how do team members who have such a broad job description stay focused and start the first quarter off intentionally? So, this brings us to number 3!

#3 - Avoid The Everything’s Quality Trap

Tell me if you have ever been in a health center leadership team meeting like this?

Practice Manager: “We have had an increasing problem with the back office staff stopping up the toilet.”

Nursing Manager: “That sounds like a Quality Issue…[Insert QI Coordinator’s Name]? When are you going to fix this?

QI Coordinator: “I’m not sure that is really a Qual-”

Practice Manager: “But, everything’s a Quality Issue!”

Though this may be a little exaggerated, QI Coordinators around the country have had conversations like this too many times to count. Often, QI Coordinators come into the job as well-rounded generalists. You might have been an ICU nurse who was good with Excel formulas. Or maybe you were an MHA student who just graduated and knew how to make a pretty graph. You know a little about everything and you are a quick-learn. This Jack-of-all-trades job description creates a perfect landing spot for everything from building pivot tables to putting together office furniture.

Yes, everything may be related to the quality of the care you provide. And everyone has the responsibility to look for areas in which we can improve. But not everything should be handled by the QI Coordinator. A problem disguised as a “quality issue” may actually need a manager to…well, manage. Or maybe the health center needs to hire a handyman to go around and change lightbulbs. If this description describes your health center culture, you might need to set the tone early in the year by assertively (and professionally) communicating what you need for to be successful in your role.

Need help raising your health center to the next level and move toward HRSA continuous compliance? Contact your health center-focused team at RegLantern at www.RegLantern.com. Our FQHC Mock Site Visits and web-based HRSA Continual Compliance tools will help save you time and money.