Fostering a Commitment to Quality: Best Practices in Safety-net Hospitals

• Published in: Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2016-02, Vol.27 (1), p.293-307
• Main Authors: Hochman, Michael, Briggs-Malonson, Medell, Wilkes, Erin, Bergman, Jonathan, Daskivich, Lauren Patty, Moin, Tannaz, Brook, Ilanit, Ryan, Gery W, Brook, Robert H, Mangione, Carol M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Appointments; Best practice; Chief executive officers; Communities; Community; Community hospitals; Culture; Directors; Employees; Fines & penalties; Hiring; Hospital systems; Hospitals; Hospitals, Community; Humans; Infrastructure; Interviews; King, Martin Luther Jr (1929-1968); Leadership; Los Angeles; Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act 2010-US; Patient-centered care; Patients; Quality control; Quality Improvement; Quality management; Resource utilization; Safety; Safety-net Providers; Transportation safety; Unmet needs
• ISSN: 1049-2089; 1548-6869; 1548-6869
• DOI: 10.1353/hpu.2016.0008

In 2007, the Martin Luther King, Jr.-Harbor Hospital (MLK-Harbor), which served a large safety-net population in South Los Angeles, closed due to quality challenges. Shortly thereafter, an agreement was made to establish a new hospital, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH), to serve the unmet needs of the community. To assist the newly appointed MLKCH Board of Directors in building a culture of quality, we conducted a series of interviews with five high-performing hospital systems. In this report, we describe our findings. The hospitals we interviewed achieved a culture of quality by: 1) developing guiding principles that foster quality; 2) hiring and retaining personnel who are stewards of quality; 3) promoting efficient resource utilization; 4) developing a well-organized quality improvement infrastructure; and 5) cultivating integrated, patient-centric care. The institutions highlighted in this report provide important lessons for MLKCH and other safety-net institutions.