You may remember in the Fall, TrueSimple participated in a fundraiser for the Youth in Motion Foundation. The effort raised $1k in support of the organization and its programs. See more here.

1st Quantified Self Meeting in SFO. Source Kevin Kelly

In improvement science, we talk about measurement for learning, but it’s in the context of business processes. Anyone who has worked with an improvement advisor knows that we think so much through the lens of Profound Knowledge that we don’t limit our data tracking to our work, we also collect data on ourselves. I often joke that it’s a sickness among my colleagues, but we are all tracking at least one measure to learn about our lifestyle and improve practices that are important to us.

It turns out, we are not alone. I discovered a group of folks called Quantified Self who come together to share how they use measurement to understand and change their lives. I first learned about the group from Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek fame. Ferriss uses self data to understand and improve his health, work and just about everything. He profiled the San Francisco chapter of Quantified Self started by Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf in his writings and now there are QS chapters that meet around the country, including one in my home city of Austin.

I am guilty of self measurement. I’m not as diligent as my colleagues, but I track a lot of data through my many devices that make it easy: a scale that syncs to wifi, TripIt.com which monitors my travel, and time sheets for my work. I once brought an annotated run chart of my weight in to argue my progress with a CrossFit Coach. A friend, formally at Frog Design, once even sent a team to my house to learn about my self measurement.

My self measurement has been passive and based on convenience. In 2013, I aim to follow the example of my colleagues and develop measures tied to the things I want to improve in 2013 (see annual review) and use that data for learning. I hope this data will help me focus on what matters and help me achieve the results I desire and provide deeper learning into how to do so. Watch for more posts in the future with updates.

Each year, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement National Forum in Orlando, FL, project results from across the IHI portfolio are profiled in the annual progress report. This year, one of those projects was the NHS Improvement collaboratives in the South West of England.

The run chart above reflects a 7% reduction in Hospital Standardised Mortality Rate (HSMR) across acute hospitals in the region. In addition, nine NHS South West hospital units reported 95% compliance or greater for giving patients a venous thromboembolism risk assessment on admission to the intensive therapy unit.

The region has been collaborating in the acute care setting for more than 4 years and evolved the work to include mental health and care across the continuum, including non-acute hospitals, nursing homes, home health and ambulance services. It was great to see the team getting attention for their hard work.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement supported this work and provided content, execution and improvement leadership. I was the improvement advisor on the IHI team. (I built the run chart…:)

Source: http://infotruck.blogspot.com/

While sitting in on a session at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement National Forum a presenter displayed the following quote on the screen and asked the audience of doctors, nurses, and health care administrators to translate it.

“There’s bear in a plain wrapper doing flip flops around 78 handing out green stamps.”

The sentence is in the language spoken on CB radios used by long haul truckers. Only one in the audience could translate the sentence. What it means in spoken English is:

“There is a cop in an unmarked car going round and round on I-78 giving out tickets.”

The lesson? The first sentence is how clinicians sound to their patients when they speak in medical jargon and the second is how it should sound. An important lesson to consider as one tackles the difficult challenge or reducing readmission through providing discharge instructions.

Image: Jeff Wilcox, Creative Commons

In 2012, we were excited to embark on a nationwide project with American Medical Response, the largest U.S. ambulance service provider, for a multi-city patient safety collaborative called Caring for Maria. Read more here.

In addition to Caring for Maria, we also started work with the the AMR operations serving the Seattle, WA metro area. The General Manager, Gil Glass, is an up-and-coming EMS administrator who has lead major EMS systems including Kansas City, MO, Santa Clara County, CA, and now Seattle, WA. Gil and I have learned and worked together in several venues over the years.

Gil recently joined the leadership team in Seattle as their General Manager. He saw an opportunity to use improvement science as a method to focus attention on improving what was important to their business, foster deep collaboration and learning about the organization and its processes, and build capacity for process redesign, PDSA learning, and measurement. After an initial launch training workshop, the leadership team developed a portfolio of projects and charted them using A3 thinking. Now, they will work to improve results.

Over the last few years, I have been thinking about the models for improvement and engagement we advocate as we pursue patient safety and improvement and how they could be applied to an alternative approach to support communities wishing to enhance their EMS system. I’ve also been approached by industry leaders yearning for a way to improve and strengthen their local team to achieve measurable results. I believe we have designed a process to achieve the unique project goals of an EMS System. Our approach aims to achieve the following:

• Involve key stakeholders in the design, oversight, and review of the project and its findings.
• Use objective and statistically appropriate process and outcome data to understand the system and its opportunities for improving reliability and reducing variation.
• Support and advise as data findings are understood and recommendations are co-created for enhancing the EMS system.
• Strive for an inclusive, objective, transparent, and highly engaged process that blends evidence-based and best practice approaches with community’s local needs and aspirations.

We believe that we offer a unique approach to meet your goals. It’s no silver bullet and requires you to do a lot of work, but the aim is to co-create the results that matter to you and build your capacity to execute and improve. To learn more, contact us here to receive a free summary of our approach and how it compares to the traditional expert EMS model of consulting.

On September 27, 2012 at the September Board of Directors Meeting of CommUnityCare, the board unanimously voted to invite David. M. Williams, Ph.D. to join the board. CommUnityCare is the Community Health Center System serving the City of Austin, TX. It is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which represents a vital safety net in the nation’s health delivery system. CommUnityCare currently operates with an annual budget of approximately $64.5 million and serves about 66,000 patients. It provides services at 22 locations in Travis County and provide approximately 220,000 medical and dental patient appointments annually. I’m excited to join a Board that consists of a majority of consumers – to maintain a patient focused perspective – and has an ambitious aim to improve the health of the community by providing improved access, quality care, at a reasonable cost.

Friday, September 14th, 2012, Leadership Austin launched the 2013 Essentials Class with an opening retreat at the T Bar M Resort in New Braunfels, TX. This opening 2-day retreat was the start of a nine month program. Leadership Austin describes the program as…

Each year, 60 people representing the diversity of Central Texas are selected to participate in the Leadership Austin ESSENTIAL Class. The curriculum focuses on regional issues, leadership skills, and the building of strong networks to encourage innovative, collaborative solutions to the region’s challenges. Since 1979 over 1,500 individuals have graduated from the ESSENTIAL Class, and today they continue their good work as powerful agents for change to make Central Texas better for all who live here.

David M. Williams, Ph.D. was pleased to be invited to join this select cohort of 60 rockstars; it was clear this was an exceptional group of committed professionals and community leaders. We predict the year to be very rewarding. You can learn more about who is in this year’s class here.

The Leadership Austin Crew did an excellant job planning, executing, and facilitating the opening retreat and made for a rewarding and memorable event. Thank you

Saybrook University recently posted a profile of David M. Williams, Ph.D. and the work we do here at TrueSimple. The profile is part of a feature sharing the stories of alumni of the Organizational Systems doctoral program. You can read the full profile on the Saybrook University website here.

One of my values is to contribute to the community and causes outside of my professional life. This year, I was honored to be invited to join the Board of the Youth In Motion Foundation, a new non-profit group with an aim to bring knowledge and enjoyment around nutrition and active lifestyles to Middle Schoolers across Austin, Texas. Learn more about them with this short video.

On September 22nd, there will be a family friendly fundraiser event to raise money to support this great mission and organization at Camp Mabry in Central Austin. You can learn more about the event and can register on Everbrite here.

I am personally partnering with the Coaches at CrossFit Central to raise at least $1,000 on my own. If you cannot make it and would like to help us reach our goal, visit my fundraising page here. Every dollar counts. No matter how small. Join me in helping kids stay healthy and active. Thank you.

UPDATE: The We the People Fundraiser raised $22,000 to support these two great organizations. My daughter and Ella both competed in addition to our fundraising efforts. Neither of us placed, but we had a great workout and lots of fun with friends. Thank you to all who contributed.