Overview

The stewardship and focus of Baylor Health Care System (BHCS) documented inAchieving STEEEP Health Careprovides the multi-dimensional journey to sustainable quality improvement needed to address America’s health system challenges. Under the clear direction of its board and senior leaders, BHCS has firmly addressed the vital components of culture, knowledge, teamwork, alignment of incentives, and change expectations to advance BHCS towards its vision. Embedding the Institute for Health Care Research and Improvement under the direction of BHCS Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer, Dr. David Ballard and his team have provided the bench strength to implement and attain such needed change. Vision driving change to better care, an important read and roadmap to follow.—Arja P. Adair, Jr., MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Foundation for Medical CareQuality of care is the central tenet of the promise that every health care provider makes to the patient. This text is a must for all those who believe that a constant search for better ways to assure and improve quality is an important part of keeping that promise.—John Agwunobi, MD, Senior Vice President and President of Health and Wellness, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.Inspiring, motivational, evidence-based, ‘can do’ blueprint for incorporating quality into the organizational DNA and culture of complex health care systems. Practical tips like making the chief financial officer a quality champion and creating infrastructure for sustaining quality through transforming the professional nurse practice environment make this volume a must-read.—Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN, Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of PennsylvaniaAchieving STEEEP Health Careis a compelling and comprehensive book on improving quality. Baylor Health Care System’s commitment to better health care is unmatched, and in David Ballard they found a person who can not only lead change, but also capture and characterize the key insights that will help the rest of us get on the path to superb care.—Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CVS CaremarkThe International Society for Quality in Health Care has taken a number of initiatives in its quest to ‘inspire, promote and support continuous improvement in the quality and safety of healthcare worldwide,’ one of which is to seek to enhance the quality of the ‘patient journey’. I was impressed therefore to reference in this excellent publication from Baylor Health Care System to meeting ‘…the needs of the individual patient across the continuum of care.Achieving STEEEP Health Carecomprehensively guides us through the operationalizing of the delivery of safe, efficient, effective, equitable and patient-centered care and as such it provides both a welcome focus and a useful practical guide to all who want the best for those in their care.—Peter Carter, Chief Executive Officer, International Society for Quality in Health CareThe American health care system is undergoing much needed and dramatic change driven by the need to be more efficient and more effective in delivering high quality and safe care that improves the overall health of the population and does not bankrupt the country in the process. What will this health care system of the future look like? The Baylor Health Care System, which this book outlines in such detail that it could be a cookbook for how to create a future health care system. David Ballard is the architect, STEEEP is the foundation, and this book is a roadmap of how Baylor Health Care System has made the journey to this new destination. Any health care leader faced with this inevitable transformation of their organization will find this book an essential part of their survival guide in the rapidly changing landscape that is the American health care system.—David Classen, MD, MS, Chief Medical Information Officer, Pascal Metrics Associate Professor of Medicine and Consultant in Infectious Diseases, University of Utah School of MedicineThis book is a ‘must read’ for leaders in health care – the Baylor Health Care System leaders have been wonderful national contributors and a catalytic force in the quality and safety arena. The practical strategies and tactics they put forth will save lives, save money, and create value in the communities we serve.—Charles Denham, MD, Founder and Chairman, Texas Medical Institute of Technology'Vision without execution is hallucination,' Thomas A. Edison said. Baylor Health Care System developed a vision and executed it. Ballard and his colleagues have led a terrific transformational process of the health care system in which they work.Achieving STEEEP Health Caredocuments this process and measures the results in terms of quality improvement and patient safety. This book is a very useful tool for those aiming to lead change, not only in U.S. health care organizations, but also in other health care systems worldwide.—Carlo Favaretti, MD, MPH, President and Founder, Italian Society of Health Technology Assessment; Former Chief Executive Officer, Udine University Hospital (Italy)Health care delivery organizations across the United States are struggling to cross the quality chasm in a fiscally sustainable manner.Achieving STEEEP Health Careprovides a compelling yet practicable roadmap for doing so, drawing upon the remarkable response of the Baylor Health Care System to the challenge articulated by the Institute of Medicine in 2001. This book is a "must read" for health care system leaders who aspire to thrive in an increasingly accountable health care world.—Rebecca L. Harrington, Co-Founder and President, The Leadership InstituteDr. Ballard and his colleagues strongly make the point that the journey to health care excellence requires a committed transformation of leadership, operations, and every aspect of the enterprise. Best care is not the result of a stand alone 'initiative.'—Ziad Haydar, MD, MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Ascension HealthWhile the journey may be STEEEP, Dr. Ballard’s accomplishments demonstrate that higher quality is attainable. The roadmap provides inspiration to all those dedicated to achieving a better health care system.—Trent Haywood, MD, JD, Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield AssociationTransforming health care delivery in a large health system like Baylor Health Care System is no mean feat. In this book, David Ballard and his team spell out their journey over the past decade to achieve such change based on STEEEP as a practical approach to high-quality care in its broadest sense. This book is a great basis for those less advanced on such a journey, and will accelerate the travels of those who read it.—J. Michael Henderson, MD, Chief Quality Officer, Cleveland ClinicEnhancing and ensuring the quality of healthcare delivery in the 21stcentury is the principle obligation of all health care executives and providers. Achieving STEEEP Health Care will greatly assist leaders in fulfilling that critical obligation.—Ira J. Isaacson, MD, MBA, Senior Vice President/Partner, Phillips, DiPisa, & AssociatesAt the heart of quality improvement lies Deming’s idea of fundamental knowledge—the concept that there is a difference between theory and reality. Theory is always an abstraction. Reality is the devil lurking in the details, down in the mud and weeds. Said another way, some talk about it; a relatively few actually do it.You hold in your hands the detailed journey map of a group who has done it, with elegance and flair. It tracks the transformation as theory becomes functional reality. Those seeking to move to the safety of the high ground in an increasingly difficult health care delivery world will find it valuable beyond compare.—Brent James, MD, MStat, Chief Quality Officer, Executive Director, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain HealthcareAll too often, case studies of health care organizations that are actively involved in transforming their delivery of care focus on only a single element of that transformation, as if it were the "magic bullet" that could solve all problems. By contrast, Ballard and his colleagues have set forth a comprehensive look at the multiple initiatives—from simple to quite complex—that are enabling the Baylor Health Care System to play a leading role in transforming health care in the US. Every leader who aspires to achieve safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, patient-centered care should read and learn from this book.—William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, Senior Vice President and Senior Advisor, Integrated Healthcare StrategiesThis book provides a lens into one organization’s journey to safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care. Full of insights, strategies, lessons and resources, this is an important read for any health care organization striving for improvement.—Maulik Joshi, DrPH, President, Health Research & Educational Trust, Senior Vice President of Research, American Hospital AssociationThis book represents a tremendous contribution by a highly respected organization that is fully grounded in the challenges and opportunities of American medicine. Table I.1 alone is worth many times the price of any book—it is essentially a playbook for forward looking, progressive organizations, and one that meets them were they currently are, and takes them forward. David Ballard and Baylor Health Care System’s national leadership reach a n...