Lauren Raff, MD, assistant professor of surgery, and Evan Raff, MD, assistant professor in the division of hospital medicine have been awarded a grant by the UNC Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI) to improve teamwork and communication during rapid responses. The grant provides professional development in quality improvement, as well as funds for the project.
“Our IHQI project seeks to improve the performance of rapid response teams at UNC by focusing on enhancing communication and teamwork during rapid response calls,” said Evan Raff. “We will create a process structure that can be consistently applied during every rapid response event and it will focus on the application of TeamSTEPPS tools in order to achieve safer, more efficient patient care and improved satisfaction from involved providers.”
The team hypothesizes that the downstream effects of the proposed interventions will be improvement in overall patient care, as reflected by a reduction of adverse events, hospital LOS, the overutilization of resources, and mortality rates.
The purpose of the Improvement Scholars program is to develop clinical improvement leaders who will ultimately mentor others to improve care and outcomes. IHQI provides training, mentorship, and guidance, as well as half-time support of an improvement project manager.