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How Dermatologists Chris Hull and Mark Eliason are Like Bono and The Edge

If in previous dojo posts, you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, today’s post will satisfy your desire. In it we describe the mysterious ways of Drs. Chris Hull’s and Mark Eliason’s clinic practice. Unless you’re a patient, you can’t witness their clinic, but this post is even better than the real thing.

Project Management Basics

Project management isn’t hard—IF you know how to do it. Project management expert Kripa Kuncheria provides a wealth of resources to guide you step-by-step from project concept through completion, loaded with examples and templates you can use right now.

Building a Real Team With Trust

According to Melissa Horn, changing a culture takes three years. She would know. Melissa has had the unusual leadership challenge of being “the fixer” for four different clinics at University of Utah Health as director of outpatient women’s clinics. Accelerate learned how Melissa creates authentic teams (hint: it’s hard work and there are no shortcuts).

The Case Against Pie Charts

Why do we like pie charts so much? Because it’s food? Is it the fun colors? Are we soothed by the paradox of an unending cycle implied by something so perfectly complete? Elton John’s lyrics are true, no? “All are agreed as they join the stampede...” pie charts are overused.

Perpetual High Alert Is Not a Safety Plan

When a mistake happens, we promise we will never let it happen again. The problem is that a personal vow doesn’t change the way the system operates. Value engineers Steve Johnson, Cindy Spangler and Will McNett look at common personal incident—backing into the lamppost in your own front yard—as a lens for eliminating risk.

Same-day Hiring: From Interview To Offer

We used to take weeks to find the right person for a position. Now, the expectation is a few days. How do you find the right person for the job in a short time? We asked Jamie Quinlan and Lisa Dyson for their perspectives. Emergency department nurse manager Jamie Quinlan shares how she decides to hire, and Lisa Dyson, director of talent acquisition, weighs in with expert advice.

A Look Back at the Project Charter

In this week’s dojo Steve takes a look back at the Project Charter with a dramatic retelling of actual history.

How Utah Shares and Spreads Improvement Using the Value Summary

The Value Summary is the currency of value improvement work at University of Utah Health. It creates a common improvement language through a one-page summary document. It visually guides the improver through our standardized improvement methodology while teaching improvement science principles in real time. The online Value Summary portal creates a forum to share and spread ideas and a path to earn maintenance of certification credit.

Are Emotions Driving Health Care Cost?

Much of the national dialogue about health care costs focuses on payment reform and the power of market forces. Researchers compared the price-sensitivity of decisions between health care and pet care. The big idea—don’t lose sight of emotions when tackling the problem of health care costs.

The Bobcast with Dr. Mark Eliason

Chief Medical Quality Officer interviews Dr. Mark Eliason, Department of Dermatology’s chief value officer. Dr. Eliason talks about what he has learned about engaging the entire team in improvement and how he is trying to make the clinical lives of dermatologists a bit easier.

How Utah Builds Trust With Patient Experience

Trust. That’s what we want. We want to earn and keep the trust of every patient. We want them to trust that we provide the best possible medical care. But more than that, we want them to trust that we will respond to their needs, coordinate our efforts, and provide them with available options. We want them to trust that we will answer our phones, explain their treatment, and value their time. The exceptional patient experience is an enterprise-wide system designed to deliver a singular output: trust. And, this enterprise-wide system is built on trusting our providers and our teams.

Box and Whisker Plots (Part 2)

Part 1 was on how to build a box and whisker plot. In Part 2 we're defining whisker length and visualizing variation within and between the variable groups. This time we're giving you answers to the questions no one has asked.