A roadmap of best practices introducing the TQRGT
Published on: Thursday, July 31, 2014
The TQRGT was developed by the Transplant Center Task Force (TCTF), a multidisciplinary group of professionals from across the United States who represent the Donation and Transplantation Community of Practice. The task force is sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance.
The resource evolved from the 2007 Transplant Center Growth and Management Collaborative (TGMC) Change Package, which represented the implementation process for the TGMC. The change package was created to assist transplant centers with the increasing volume of transplants, and the TQRGT focuses on quality and value.
Task force chair Nancy D. Long, RN, B.A., CCTC, transplant administrator at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., said that, in today's busy world, having a variety of tried and true resources at your fingertips for a wide range of needs is extremely helpful. "Why start from scratch," Long added, "if you do not have to?"
In a nutshell, the TQRGT is a roadmap incorporating best practices for developing and sustaining high-quality, patient-centered excellence in donation and transplantation.
Enhancing infrastructure, operations
A valuable resource for the transplant community, the TQRGT includes strategies, change concepts and actions intended to enhance the infrastructure and operations of all transplant programs.
In addition, a robust selection of resources, templates and worksheets are included within each of the strategies listed below:
- institutional vision and commitment
- dedicated team
- maximize clinical opportunities
- patient centered care
- financial intelligence
- performance improvement
- transplant hospital relationships with donation partners
Randall S. Sung, M.D., surgical director of the kidney and pancreas transplant programs at University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, and a TCTF member, said that the TQRGT is designed to offer transplant centers principles and ideas to support their quality improvement efforts, and to provide specific resources that can be used as blueprints for these activities.
Another TCTF member, Debbie Mast, database administrator/financial manager, Stanford Hospitals and Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif., added that the TQRGT has assisted leadership within her organization.
"The TQRGT has been such an asset to our programs," Mast said, "not only in quality metrics but also in providing guidance to our leadership regarding resources and how they can affect the patient experience as a whole."
To read and benefit from the quality resource, visit www.organdonationalliance.org/educational-resources/transplant-toolbox [Exit Disclaimer]. Questions or suggestions? Send an e-mail to the ODTA's transplant resource consultant Shannon Dowell, RN, M.S.N., CCTN, at sdowell@odt-alliance.org.