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Executive Leadership and Surgical Quality: A Guide for Senior Hospital Leaders

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Surgical Patient Care

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Abstract

Healthcare and the provision thereof is a remarkable combination of skill, clinical judgment, and teamwork. This surgical teamwork requires sound and thoughtful oversight so to ensure that the appropriate leadership and administrative structure is in place. The Chief Surgical Quality and Patient Safety Officer is a primary driver of process improvement and measurement of outcomes so to ensure a culture of surgical safety and the best patient care environment. Training and resources are required, as are reporting structures and administrative committee support. Strategic alignment and leadership must be inherent to the department so to develop not only a culture of safety but also high reliability at all levels of the department. Data analytics and validation coupled with metric development and goal setting coupled with dash boarding and bench marking allow incentives and compensation to be aligned with outcomes. Innovation in process improvement and continuous engagement of the entire team ensure truly patient centric care which requires all surgeons to actively manage the tension between quality, efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

—William A. Foster

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quality and Operations, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 130 Doan Hall, 410 West 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Susan Moffatt-Bruce MD, PhD, MBA, FACS

  2. Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, 720 Rutland Avenue, Ross 759, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Robert S. D. Higgins MD, MSHA

Authors
  1. Susan Moffatt-Bruce MD, PhD, MBA, FACS
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  2. Robert S. D. Higgins MD, MSHA
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Moffatt-Bruce MD, PhD, MBA, FACS .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Juan A. Sanchez

  2. Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation and Kyle John Rymiszewski Research Scholar, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Paul Barach

  3. Department of Surgery Center for Healthcare Studies Institute for Public Health and Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Julie K. Johnson

  4. Division of Cardiovascular Surgery Johns Hopkins All Children’s Heart Institute Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA

    Jeffrey P. Jacobs

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Moffatt-Bruce, S., Higgins, R.S.D. (2017). Executive Leadership and Surgical Quality: A Guide for Senior Hospital Leaders. In: Sanchez, J., Barach, P., Johnson, J., Jacobs, J. (eds) Surgical Patient Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44010-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44010-1_15

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44010-1

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