leadership and your management system
By: Eric Schulze, CERM
During the 2015 DNV GL symposium, I overheard someone say that after 4 years of “doing” ISO they can kind of see how leadership and management review can contribute to improvement. This is an unfortunate observation and truth for many hospitals using the 9001 framework as part of their accreditation. Implementing, maintaining, and improving a management system is a journey, not a destination. All of us have probably heard that by now. |
Leadership involvement and the management process of your management system is usually one of the last to mature.
Many of my conversations with hospitals are about how to help them with their management processes. I usually hear that their leadership is open to have some education but it needs to be about an hour, two hours at the most because they do not have the attention span to sit any longer. If this sounds familiar, rest assured you are not alone. Historically, leadership education is high level and generic about ISO 9001 to include “their” requirements. The management rep is usually the person who makes it all happen and ensures there is enough evidence to ensure leadership can show “evidence of its commitment” to the QMS.
The 2015 standard adds additional leadership requirements to the QMS. One of the requirements is to identify the context of the organization. The context of the organization is determined by looking at the external and internal issues that are relevant to the strategic direction and its purpose and that affects the ability of the QMS to achieve intended results. For hospitals with adhoc management processes doing a risk assessment on the current state of their leadership and management processes may be appropriate. Using the outcome of the assessment as input to show leadership the risks to their accreditation based on their current involvement level compared to the new leadership requirements. Hospitals that have chosen to switch to DNV GL for their accreditation from The Joint Commission have to maintain conformance to ISO 9001 even if they do not want to become certified to ISO. This ISO QMS requirement is not going away for hospitals that use DNV GL.
ISO 9001 surveyors expect to see a QMS maturing each year including the management processes. Several hospitals received findings written against leadership that put them in jeopardy of losing their accreditation last year. Being honest about the issues that your affect your QMS will help you to mitigate risk and possibly get the positive attention of leadership to help mature your QMS.
Thank you for your interest and time to read all the way to here. I am passionate about what I do and I would welcome the opportunity to learn more about you and the journey your hospital is taking to sustainable improvement. I can be reached by email at eschulze@bluesynergyassociates.com and by calling me toll free at 1-844-424-7825. Your comments are always welcome.
Until next time,
Eric
Many of my conversations with hospitals are about how to help them with their management processes. I usually hear that their leadership is open to have some education but it needs to be about an hour, two hours at the most because they do not have the attention span to sit any longer. If this sounds familiar, rest assured you are not alone. Historically, leadership education is high level and generic about ISO 9001 to include “their” requirements. The management rep is usually the person who makes it all happen and ensures there is enough evidence to ensure leadership can show “evidence of its commitment” to the QMS.
The 2015 standard adds additional leadership requirements to the QMS. One of the requirements is to identify the context of the organization. The context of the organization is determined by looking at the external and internal issues that are relevant to the strategic direction and its purpose and that affects the ability of the QMS to achieve intended results. For hospitals with adhoc management processes doing a risk assessment on the current state of their leadership and management processes may be appropriate. Using the outcome of the assessment as input to show leadership the risks to their accreditation based on their current involvement level compared to the new leadership requirements. Hospitals that have chosen to switch to DNV GL for their accreditation from The Joint Commission have to maintain conformance to ISO 9001 even if they do not want to become certified to ISO. This ISO QMS requirement is not going away for hospitals that use DNV GL.
ISO 9001 surveyors expect to see a QMS maturing each year including the management processes. Several hospitals received findings written against leadership that put them in jeopardy of losing their accreditation last year. Being honest about the issues that your affect your QMS will help you to mitigate risk and possibly get the positive attention of leadership to help mature your QMS.
Thank you for your interest and time to read all the way to here. I am passionate about what I do and I would welcome the opportunity to learn more about you and the journey your hospital is taking to sustainable improvement. I can be reached by email at eschulze@bluesynergyassociates.com and by calling me toll free at 1-844-424-7825. Your comments are always welcome.
Until next time,
Eric