title: Achieving faster quality improvement through the 24-hour team.
abstract: This article describes how Great Plains Regional Medical Center (GPRMC) in North Platte, NE, changed its quality improvement (QI) methodology and its mind-set toward team time management to accelerate its improvement efforts. The "24-hour road map" and the improved FOCUS-PDSA methodology, coupled with strong leadership, make up the team time management element that has been missing from healthcare quality improvement but is critically needed to accelerate the process. At GPRMC, a major criterion for success is now a 6-month-or-less improvement cycle for cross-functional teams to complete their QI efforts. The lessons learned at GPRMC can help others in healthcare improve quality, lower costs, and do both more quickly.
authors.affiliation: Great Plains Regional Medical Center, North Platte, NE, USA.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Carboneau
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D004496:Education, Continuing; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards*; D007324:Institutional Management Teams; D007857:Leadership; D008332:Management Quality Circles; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009329:Nebraska; D010934:Planning Techniques; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000458:organization & administration; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration