1. Communication in Healthcare Culture:
Eight Steps to Uphold Outcomes Improvement

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Communication in Healthcare
Communication is critical for shaping an
organizational culture that supports large-scale
transformation and performance improvement.
With effective communication, the leadership
team widely affirms the value of its outcomes
improvement strategy, engages team members
at every level, and drives progress towards
clinical, operational, and financial goals.
This article’s eight-step communication strategy outlines a best practice
approach to facilitating change and achieving meaningful outcomes
improvements.

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Communication in Healthcare
The content of an organization’s communication depends on the needs of its
various audiences, its goals, and the changing circumstances of its
outcomes improvement journey.
The leadership team’s communication should include several key elements:
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
A clear and
compelling vision
Expectations for
improvement
Support for
transparency and
ongoing learning
Authority and
accountability
Plans, progress, and
performance
Successes

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
A clear and compelling vision: The vision describes the organization’s
future and why it’s on a particular path. Vision also explains how
outcomes improvement will transform daily work and healthcare delivery
overall, and how all team members will benefit from the changes.

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
Expectations for improvement: Expectations are the targets for
improvement and the motivation behind them. Organizations need to
set clear and specific goals and describe precisely how and when
they’ll measure progress.

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
Support for transparency and ongoing learning: Organizations need
to demonstrate that all team members can safely bring up a challenge or
failure and do so without fear of repercussions.

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
Authority and accountability: Who will lead the charge? The
leadership team explains how it will grant authority and responsibility,
and what kinds of support all team members must provide.

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
Plans, progress, and performance: As improvement work proceeds,
the leadership team communicates current status, next steps, lessons
learned, and adjustments. Even after achieving initial goals, leadership
continually monitors and communicates to ensure the organization is
sustaining the gains. Leadership shares all data (good and bad) to paint
an objective picture and help reinforce a data-driven culture.

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Communication in Healthcare
Elements that Shape a Culture of Improvement
Successes: The leadership team highlights all successes, including the
small wins. Doing so honors the work that’s been done, shows gratitude
to the people who do it, and motivates the whole organization.

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
Once the leadership team has defined what it will communicate, based
on the essential elements above, it can establish a successful outcomes
improvement communication strategy by following eight steps:

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
The right communication specialist will
have substantial experience developing
campaigns and the authority to deploy
resources (people and funds) for
ongoing support.
The communication specialist will join
the outcomes improvement leadership
team, a multidisciplinary group of
innovators and early adopters who
champion key transformation initiatives.
Include a communications specialist on the outcomes improvement leadership team1

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
The analysis of stakeholders should be an ongoing
component of the leadership strategy. This analysis
can begin as soon as leadership forms the highest-
level goal for the organization.
Stakeholder analysis involves identifying who will be
affected by the change(s) and what their needs and
influence could mean for the initiative’s success.
Leadership will consider what these stakeholders
need to do and know to contribute, and then craft a
communication plan around those needs.
Analyze the stakeholders early and often2

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
Most people care about doing a good job and
helping patients. For example, a campaign like:
The IHI’s 100,000 Lives Campaign frames quality
and patient safety efforts to help people achieve
something meaningful (in this case, saving lives).
Leadership aligns stories, branding, and other
communication with this central message, hoping to
create a narrative that team members can relate to
and contribute to on a practical and emotional level.
Craft the central message around shared values3

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
For members of the leadership team, every
meeting, conference call, elevator chat, and
clinic visit is a chance to reinforce a culture of
improvement.
Leaders can ask, listen, share relentlessly,
and acknowledge their own learning while
promoting the progress.
Be a constant champion4

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
In the absence of communication, people will create
their own stories. Leaders must get ahead of—and
stay on top of—the spin cycle by establishing
means for frequent communication:
• Start every meeting with an improvement story.
• Send a monthly email or newsletter that
highlights improvement efforts.
• Provide quarterly updates with performance
data, lessons learned, and progress.
Commit to regular times and mechanisms for communication5

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
To support a culture of curiosity, trust, and
continuous improvement, the leadership team
solicits feedback and uses it to reflect publicly
on what’s working and what can be done
differently to get better results.
This helps an organization demonstrate that
it doesn’t play the blame game if something
needs to be improved—that it’s safe for team
members to give feedback, ask questions,
and think creatively about solutions.
Make sure communication flows both ways6

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
The leadership team wants organizational efforts
to be visible; this transparency reinforces
improvement as a way of life for the organization.
Early on, leadership establishes principles for
communicating about failures, poor performance,
errors, oversights, lessons learned, etc.
Be as transparent as possible within the culture
and share data in a way that demonstrates a
willingness to learn and grow.
Be transparent7

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Communication in Healthcare
Eight Steps to Communicating Effectively in an Improvement Culture
Guided by the communications specialist, the leadership team considers
a variety of communication channels and formats. Successful,
comprehensive communication strategies include a variety of channels:
• Banners and screen savers.
• FAQs, newsletters, and quarterly reports.
• Podcasts, blogs, and web articles.
• Photo gallery highlighting staff contributions.
• YouTube channel featuring relevant stories and interviews.
• Posted case studies showing how staff is contributing to shared goals.
• Industry awards, press releases, and radio spots.
• Town halls, grand rounds, and study days.
Be creative8

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Communication in Healthcare
Organizations can only achieve true, sustainable
outcomes improvement when all team members
comprehensively understand why the
organization wants to change and how it plans to
accomplish that change.
For an initiative to succeed, improvement
planning and knowledge can’t remain siloed
within the leadership team; instead, it must
spread throughout the organization.
Communicate Effectively to Govern Successfully

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Communication in Healthcare
The eight-step communication plan for communication
that facilitates a culture of improvement ensures
engagement, shared understanding, alignment, and focus
around systemwide healthcare transformation.
Communicate Effectively to Govern Successfully

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For more information:
“This book is a fantastic piece of work”
– Robert Lindeman MD, FAAP, Chief Physician Quality Officer

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More about this topic
Link to original article for a more in-depth discussion.
Communication in Healthcare Culture: Eight Steps to Uphold Outcomes Improvement
Governance in Healthcare: Leadership for Successful Improvement
Dan LeSueur, VP of Client and Technical Operations
Outcomes Improvement Governance: A Handbook for Success and Achieving More with Less
David Grauer, Senior VP Professional Services; Tom Burton, Senior VP and Co-Founder
The 4 Clinical Teams Needed to Drive Sustainable Improvement
Kathleen Merkley, DNP, APRN, Sr. VP Clinical Improvement Line; Kirstin Scott, Sr. Medical Writer
Susan Easton, VP Engagement Executive; Tracy Vayo, VP Knowledge Services
Successfully Rolling Out Healthcare Improvement Initiatives with Key Influencers
Tom Burton, Senior VP and Co-Founder
MultiCare’s Transformational Journey Toward Sustained Outcomes Improvement
Health Catalyst – Success Story

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David joined Health Catalyst as a Senior Vice President in September, 2016 after
spending 23 years in various administrative positions at Intermountain Healthcare.
Most recently, David served as the CEO/Administrator of Intermountain Medical
Center in Salt Lake City
Other Clinical Quality Improvement Resources
Click to read additional information at www.healthcatalyst.com
David Grauer