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Archive for March, 2009

Cancer Screening: Reaching Underserved Communities

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

By William Seidman

Cancer screening is a valuable tool for improving the reach of US health care - and yet many communities are underserved. Organizational Resources Group is working with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to remedy this, by building a model using the IdeaNet/Cerebyte approach to successful screening programs.

In the words of ORG, their IdeaNet can “turn strategy into action, close the performance gap, standardize best practices, and support effective succession planning.”

Initial results have been positive - and once the model is proven, ORG will work with the ACS to  promote it nationally.

Orgnizational Resources Group will take a leading role in “coaching” community action teams to deploy the American Cancer Society’s colorectal cancer screening program. The potential for saving lives using this IdeaNet/Cerebyte program is awesome.

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Saving Lives via Colorectal Cancer Screening

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

By William Seidman

What do we have to do with colorectal cancer screening? We’re about positive deviance, organizational change, digital coaching, and management consulting, right?  Yes - and it’s especially gratifying when our program is used to save lives.

We work with Peter Guttchen at Organizational Resources Group (ORG),  a longtime partner of Cerebyte. ORG uses our program, renamed for their purposes “IdeaNet Solution” (not to be confused with a lot of other “IdeaNet”s out there) - which in their words, “builds a sturdy bridge between planning and doing.” 

Organizational Resources Group works closely with the American Cancer Society on a program for the screening of colorectal cancer. This disease is nearly always curable if detected early. But people are resistant to the idea of getting a colonoscopy, the single most effective screen for the disease. The screening test (recommended for anyone over age 50)  is comparatively expensive, requires some preparation, and is done under light sedation. It saves lives.  Even though colonoscopies need be done only once every ten years for healthy people, there is resistance toward any screening that reminds people of cancer.

Using IdeaNet, The American Cancer Society is creating a program that will bring many more people into routine screening. This has terrific potential to save lives, and we’re thrilled to play a part.

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One-on-One Mentoring versus Team Learning

Monday, March 16th, 2009

By William Seidman

Team learning or mentoring?  We’ve been working with customers in healthcare who are very interested in our research on learning as a team versus the benefits of learning with a mentor. We are asked, specifically, if we would use team coaching - everyone at once - or one-on-one coaching for specific team members?

There is a tradeoff between the two approaches. Team learning, if well-facilitated, can enable great synergy and alignment in the team, but less individual depth.

Group discussions are powerful, but individuals sometimes don’t have to go as deep contentwise, or focus as intensely. On the other hand, individual learning with a mentor can be deeper, but isolated. The group does not necessarily gain from it.

It’s important to articulate your goals, and then use the method that will get you there.

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How People Make Choices and How People Learn

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

By William Seidman

I recently had a discussion with a colleague about how people learn best. He favors letting people explore, with minimal structure and a lot of choice. It’s a permissive parenting and teaching style which may work with some people, some of the time. But our experience has shown us that people often don’t have the ability to choose, especially between two reasonably good options.

Lack of knowledge scares them. New situations scare them. Fear of the unknown can be powerful inhibitor.

Most people, when learning something new, really benefit from and like to have a good role model. Positive deviants are the best role models.

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When (and Where) Change Saves Lives: Hospitals

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

By William Seidman

We’re beginning to work with healthcare providers and medical institutions - where important change initiatives can be difficult to implement and sustain. Stephen Shortell of Cal Berkeley’s School of Public Health has written and spoken extensively on this.

The goals of hospital management can be at odds with the goals of doctors, nurses, and staff. In some quarters the electronic medical record, also called the electronic health record, provokes fear regarding privacy and access - along with the inconvenience, to some, of change.

 Manoj Jain, MD and MPH and many others have written about change initiatives undertaken in US hospitals that have reaped huge gains for patients.  They have saved lives. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas) infections - also known as HA-MRSA,  health-care associated MRSA -  have declined markedly in hospitals that implemented straighforward changes in clinical procedure. 

We coach healthcare professionals to reframe the broader social impact of what they do. Transformation is possible and highly desirable -sometimes change saves lives!  When people understand that change is for greater (and measurable) social good,  we’ve found that they’re eager to participate.

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