Welcome to Module 7, Session 1 of the Cardiovascular Program Coordinator Course. This module is Improving Facilitation with content provided by Deb Keppen, Christy Chambers, and Michelle Wood. In Module 7, throughout the three sessions, we will be learning about the following objectives. Define facilitation in the context of the cardiovascular coordinator role. Identify facilitation tools and techniques that can be used to create a successful working team environment. Recognize challenges early and implement change effectively. Prepare for, achieve, and maintain accreditation. In your role as a coordinator, you will be called upon to both achieve accreditation and maintain accreditation throughout the three-year cycle. In order to accomplish both, likely, you will be both facilitator and program manager. There are a certain set of skills that apply to both roles. In this module, you will learn methods of arranging meetings that meet your goals, the importance of collaborative teamwork, and how to best handle dissension among committee participants. In Module 1, we will focus on facilitating and managing an effective program. Our discussions in the following slides will help you create and maintain a successful program using specific tools and techniques to engage committee members and other stakeholders. You will learn how to deal with challenges that can create a barrier between where you are and where the program needs to go to be successful. Following the achievement of accreditation, you may be pulled away to focus on other initiatives, or your team may be ready to disband and move on. Tips on how to maintain program initiatives will also be provided in the facilitation module to avoid post-accreditation apathy. There is a difference between facilitation and project management, and in your role as coordinator, you will most likely be both. To be an effective facilitator, you must know when to take a leadership role and when to be neutral and take a back seat. This is a difficult balance to maintain. The key to being proficient in the role is to plan and guide the proceedings effectively and remain focused on the group process and outcomes, rather than specific content and opinions involved. Facilitation is an interesting, rewarding, and important role to take on. When facilitating, take time to think about the process and agenda, and learn the skills you need to take the event through to a successful conclusion. As a project manager, you will have the body of knowledge related to the accreditation process and will need the skills to determine where your resources lie and when to call upon others to assume many of the tasks within the project. Project management processes typically involve five steps, initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing or maintaining. Work with leadership to identify your accreditation stakeholders. A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project. The stakeholder identification process is one of the most important processes in project management. You must understand how the accreditation process and chest pain program benefits the stakeholder. This is important in order to gain buy-in and support for the initiatives and requirements surrounding accreditation. This will also help to keep the program running long after accreditation is achieved. You must identify the stakeholders at the beginning of the project, building relationships that encourage transparency. Provide the entire accreditation tool to committee members and encourage them to review the documents provided with an intent to assume responsibility for their area of expertise. Provide applicable tool components known as essential components to the various stakeholders. It may be helpful to do a live demo at your initial committee meeting so that the team can experience the navigation process. Be sure to also review the accreditation conformance database measures and or registry data that will serve as the basis for how progress is being made. Although not always possible, assigning the data abstraction component of accreditation to another individual will provide more time to facilitate meetings and run the program. Completing the gap analysis is the first step in identifying where you are in meeting tool items and where work will be needed to meet the item intent. This cannot be accurately accomplished without the help of others who are knowledgeable in some areas where you are not. Engage the committee and other stakeholders in the completion of the gap analysis for a more accurate assessment of your baseline. If you do not know where your baseline is, the path forward will be difficult. When completing the gap analysis, be aware of areas where an item is not being met but will take considerable time to complete. Areas such as order sets and proponent turnaround time may take longer to move forward and therefore should be among the initial priorities. Allowing group participation will also help the team better understand the project scope. Using a technique that is familiar with senior leadership, such as the stoplight method of communication, will succinctly paint a picture of where you are and the work that is being done and where assistance is needed. Be brief. Regular contact is important. Watch how your leadership wants to receive updates. Invite leadership, if not already in attendance, to a committee meeting. The hospital C-suite has a lot on their plates, so you need to be efficient and respectful of their time when presenting reports. By focusing on the key metrics that matter and foregoing complicated, difficult-to-interpret spreadsheets and graphs, you can help the C-suite gain the valuable insight they need to support the program even after accreditation is achieved. What is your hospital's strategic plan? What are the goals of stakeholder departments? If you do not know either, now is the time to find out. Tying your charter goals to either or both will help garner support for initiatives going forward. How does the accreditation process support the hospital's mission or goals? Department goals? Examples may be reduction in practice variation by creating standardized order sets, reducing readmission by creating discharge instructions that are easy to understand, reducing ED boarding times through better utilization of observation services or a shorter turnaround time for receiving important lab results, promoting patient safety by reducing overall length of stay. Alex, a day shift ED nurse, has been assigned the role of Accreditation Coordinator. Up until now, Alex has not been exposed to other departments and has few contacts outside of the emergency department. An ED physician with whom he has a working relationship has agreed to take on the position of Chest Pain Center Medical Director. Participants in the Chest Pain Committee are required to be part of the committee meetings at least 50% of the time. The cardiologist and clinical educator representatives initially agreed to be part of the accreditation initiative and have now declined the first two monthly meetings. What could Alex have done initially to engage these members? What are some of the steps he can take going forward to encourage participation? Although it can be more comfortable to work with colleagues we know, as a facilitator and project manager, you will be bringing together people who normally do not work together in the same setting. Reaching out to others, identifying their needs and expectations, can go a long way in establishing a good working relationship. Setting expectations up front regarding participation requirements should be part of initial engagement conversations so that the potential committee member can make an informed decision to participate. Also, part of these initial discussions will be the need to delegate certain assignments and will help establish your role as a facilitator and project manager and not the individual who carries sole responsibility for the accreditation initiative. This concludes Module 7, Session 1 of the Cardiovascular Program Coordinator Course.

improving facilitation skills

maintaining accreditation

collaborative teamwork

handling dissension

establishing good working relationships