Behind every winning team is a coach so when Aiken Regional Medical Center in Aiken, SC, sought to improve performance measures related to Surgical Services, it created a quality champion to ensure it was successful in complying with its quality initiatives.

The quality champion coaches through ongoing education, meeting with staff in all surgical areas every morning to educate them on core performance measures. She reinforces the importance of compliance and updates the education when new measures are added. It’s also her job to reward people when they achieve improvements.

Communication is the key to success. Not only does it ensure that the Surgical Services staff recognizes opportunities for improvement, it also demonstrates the commitment of hospital management to quality care. Thus motivated, the staff has made changes in their daily processes and inserted checks and balances for compliance.

To show the Surgical Services team how they are performing, the quality champion posts monthly graphs in the surgical areas showing trended progress in compliance. The visual measurement is helpful in reminding staff and surgeons of the surgical indicators and how they relate to a continuing focus on quality improvement. The graphs depict compliance by type of surgery.

Due to diligent efforts by the Surgical Services staff, Aiken Regional was able to maintain 100 percent compliance with one core performance quality indicator, “Antibiotic Within One Hour Prior to Incision,” for five consecutive months. The department was congratulated and thanked by hospital leaders over a celebration lunch. Such recognition reinforces best practices and keeps the motivation to continue improving high.