Achieving healthcare excellence by leveraging technology

In today's demanding healthcare landscape, providing exceptional care while managing costs and keeping your staff engaged might feel like an uphill battle. Juggling between different software programs and cumbersome paper-based solutions only adds to the complexity.

But there's a better way. Embracing technology, and in particular an all-in-one quality improvement software allows real-time accurate oversight of all improvement activity, leading to improved quality of care, higher patient satisfaction, boosted staff engagement, and significant cost reductions.

The challenges of not having technology on your side

Before diving into the benefits of an integrated solution, let's acknowledge the challenges that come with using different tools and software or relying on outdated paper processes.

Data silos

When you collect and analyse data across different systems, it’s incredibly difficult to identify trends in the various data sources, pinpoint areas for improvement, and implement data-driven strategies.

Limited collaboration

When information lives in silos, also the collaboration becomes a challenge. Especially when you have different communication channels for the various things that you are working on.

Imagine when you’re involved in multiple projects and you get several emails, Slack/Teams messages for the different parts of those projects. It’s quite overwhelming to keep up to date on what’s happening in the organisation.

It easily leads to missing information and means that you’re not fully in the loop.

And when you are working with paper-based methods, pdf documents or Excel sheets, also information sharing is more difficult and asynchronous. Any changes in a driver diagram or a PDSA cycle, for example, need to be reshared with the team. It results in confusion about the most updated version and makes editing a pain.

Increased costs

Managing multiple software subscriptions and printing costs significantly contribute to overhead expenses. Furthermore, too often organisations without an improvement software find duplication of effort and a multitude of approaches, which lead to duplication of work, unfinished projects, and successes that were never celebrated and spread.

Strained staff engagement

Duplicating efforts and unfinished projects can lead to staff burnout and lack of motivation. This, in turn, negatively impacts patient care and the overall staff performance.

Why an all-in-one quality improvement software is the answer to transforming the way you do QI

An all-in-one quality improvement software like Life QI provides a centralised platform to streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and drive meaningful improvements. It allows you to run, organise, and track all improvement work in one place.

Improvement platforms usually integrate various tools and methodologies to ensure a consistent approach to QI across the whole organisation.

They provide the main improvement tools to build driver diagrams, run PDSA cycles, collect your data and display it on run and control (SPC) charts, and analyse the results. These software solutions enable you to identify areas for improvement and implement evidence-based interventions. Usually, they also have a reporting functionality, so you don’t have to worry about manually reporting on your projects.

But now, let’s see in what ways an improvement software can benefit your organisation.

Enhanced team productivity

An all-in-one improvement software can be the secret ingredient that turbocharges productivity and helps your team reach new heights. From automated workflows to real-time data analysis, a QI software is a game-changer. It improves communication, and empowers your team to work smarter, not harder.

Indeed, in a recent survey that we did among our customers, the data shows that an improvement team staff can save almost 19% of their time spent coaching and supporting project teams which is almost 4 hrs per week, per person!

They also save over 25% of the time they previously spent on reporting (compared to period before implementing Life QI) – that’s another 2 hrs a week for each member of the team.

More staff engaged in quality improvement initiatives

QI software fosters a culture of continuous improvement by empowering staff to contribute ideas and participate in decision-making processes. Tools for real-time, online collaboration can ensure that every team member can easily get involved in improvement projects and suggest improvements. This inclusive approach not only boosts morale but also leads to more innovative solutions and better patient outcomes.

It also provides a platform for sharing ideas and fostering a sense of ownership in the improvement process, so staff can feel more motivated and engaged. And as we know, a more engaged staff is a more productive staff.

From our customer survey it turned out that depending on their involvement, the time

commitment for staff engaged in improvement varied wildly, but the staff involved in improvement work saved, on average, a little over 15% of their time by using Life QI. In case of a big organisation that means hundreds if not thousands of person days every single year.

Organisations like Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust have seen staff engagement rise rapidly after implementing Life QI, the QI platform of their choice, resulting in over 250 active projects in two years. Project teams have access to the tools they need, and leaders have real-time activity and impact data, allowing all work to be captured, celebrated and spread.

More successful improvement projects

An all-in-one quality improvement software can streamline the entire improvement project lifecycle, fostering more successful outcomes for your organisation. By consolidating essential tools, data analysis dashboards, and communication functionalities in a single platform, teams can avoid the fragmentation and inefficiencies inherent in using separate systems.

This unified environment promotes better collaboration, ensures consistent application of improvement methodologies (such as the Model for Improvement, Lean or Six Sigma), and facilitates real-time monitoring of progress against key metrics.

Furthermore, the integrated reporting feature provides visibility into project performance, enabling data-driven decision-making and fostering a culture of continuous learning. Customisable dashboards and automated report generation allow stakeholders at all levels to easily track progress and assess the impact of implemented changes.

Having all of these in one platform empowers organisations not only to work on more projects, but also to deliver more successful, impactful and sustainable quality improvements, ultimately leading to better patient care and more efficient operations.

Our research showed that by using Life QI, our customers deliver 9 times more successful improvement projects. This as a side effect also leads to increased morale, so better productivity. As you can see these benefits are all interconnected.

Improved financial impact (cost reduction, increased revenue, cost avoidance)

The implementation of an improvement software impact also your organisation's financial health. By facilitating data-driven decision-making, the software enables targeted interventions that reduce costs and improve revenue streams. For instance, it can identify inefficiencies in workflows, can avoid the duplication of work and can save significant staff time leading to cost reduction. This translates to tangible savings in operational expenses and a more efficient use of financial resources.

Beyond cost reduction, an integrated quality improvement platform can also improve revenue through delivering more successful projects. Our analysis shows that approximately 1 in 3 successful projects have a financial upside. But actually, it’s not a surprise.

Successful improvements mean optimised and better services, so also a higher level of patient satisfaction. This leads to the improvement in patient loyalty and helps to attract new patients through positive word-of-mouth referrals.

We hope that we convinced you that leveraging technology is essential and has a lot of benefits for your organisation which also prove ROI. So, if you’re ready to think about what’s next, let’s see what are the key features that you should look for in a QI platform.

Key features to look for in an all-in-one QI software

When evaluating potential solutions, consider the following key features:

• Tools: The main improvement tools you need in one place from driver diagrams, PDSA cycles, run and control (SPC) charts.
• Data analytics and reporting: Robust reporting capabilities to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify areas for improvement.
• Communication and collaboration: Integrated communication tools to facilitate seamless information exchange and file sharing among the teams.
• User-friendly interface: An intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface to ensure widespread adoption.

Conclusion

In today's competitive healthcare market, investing in an all-in-one quality improvement software isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a necessity. By consolidating processes, fostering collaboration, and leveraging data-driven insights, you can elevate the quality of care, improve patient satisfaction, boost staff engagement, and significantly reduce costs.

Want to see how Life QI’s quality improvement software could benefit your organisation and see how it works in action? Contact our friendly team of experts today for a personalised demo and start revolutionising the way you do QI – your organisation will reap the rewards.