52. RESIDENTS IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS: ALIGNING PEDIATRIC EDUCATION WITH HOSPITAL OPERATIONS

Abstract

Background Academic pediatric centers balance many goals, including excellent patient care, effective hospital operations, and providing optimal training environments. However, hospital administration and graduate medical education (GME) priorities are not always aligned. With administration often focused on metrics like throughput and expansion, special attention must be given to the unique aims of GME in order to prioritize and facilitate an ideal training program. Objective: To align key stakeholders and identify innovative solutions to optimize pediatric resident education, patient care, and hospital operations. Methods At Lurie Children's Hospital, with administrative support, we convened stakeholders representing pediatric residents and faculty as well as hospital operations leaders. Partnering stakeholders with quality improvement specialists we identified key drivers of our educational goals through current state analyses. These analyses informed potential interventions, identified through collection of multimodal survey data, to achieve an optimal future state design. Results Rapid improvement events connected residents, faculty, nurses, and hospital staff in robust facilitated discussions. Four major topics emerged, comprising key drivers of resident experiences, patient care delivery, and the interface with hospital processes. These topics were (1) service team distribution, (2) logistical barriers, (3) GME structures, and (4) communication/electronic health record (EHR) issues. Future design sessions produced novel solutions including new workflows, EHR support, and the convening of task forces to focus on unique care settings. Conclusion Through quality-focused evaluation of hospital and residency goals, we engaged key stakeholders in identifying proactive solutions to align residency training with hospital operations. Ongoing metrics from these initiatives will be analyzed for impact. The project was well-received by trainees, faculty, and staff and will continue to inform short- and long-term initiatives.