Wanting to create a sustainable, well-received and effective hospitalist morbidity and mortality rounds program, Dr. Shauna Tierney designed a project focused on improving communication and relationships, as well as prioritizing physician issues and patient care. The Hospitalist M&M Rounds Working Group hosted lunch-time rounds at both Victoria General and Royal Jubilee Hospitals and then opened up specific cases for discussion. Non-hospitalists (pharmacist, specialist physicians) who had co-managed specific cases also participated in the discussions. After the Rounds, a smaller group met to determine key take-aways and points of interest, and ultimately identified future QI initiatives. The group also published a quarterly newsletter, ‘M&M Pearls,’ and copies were places in the lunch rooms.
Thanks to this project group’s work, there is now an established program in the South Island Hospitalist Department. Hospitalists have embraced the rounds as a to share their learning and optimize patient care. Additionally, hospitalists report enhanced clinical management as a result of what they learned during their rounds. Meanwhile, Dr. Tierney states that, “the Working Group has matured into a high-functioning group of colleagues that truly enjoys the experience of collaborating together. The ‘M&M Pearls’ continues to be well read and appreciated for the value it brings to provisions of care.”
Following the completion of this project the Hospitalist Department successfully applied for ongoing quality improvement funding and credits the SIFEI project experience for this.