Possibly making the impossible, possible…
By Steve MacArthur, Hospital Safety Consultant
As I look back over the years, particularly my time as a consultant, I continue to be fascinated by requests to safety/facility professionals to (channeling Jean-Luc Picard) “make it so,” even when the “so” they are requesting was not considered in the design of whatever system/process that is the target of the request. Just last week, I fielded a question from a facility manager who had been requested to make an OR procedure room negative for procedures on COVID patients. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a direct reach-out so I wasn’t able to dialogue with this individual, so I’m not sure of the particulars (availability of negative pressure procedure rooms in the facility, etc.), but it did get me to thinking about how many impossible things have been done over the last eight to 10 weeks in hospitals all over the country.
As of this writing, the first week in June is bringing about my first onsite client visit since mid-March and I am keen to see what’s been happening “in the field.” Fortunately, through the 1135 waiver process, there have been some instances in which we’ve been able to “bend” the regulatory statutes to some degree, but I think (hope?) we can all agree that there have been (and likely will continue to be) gray areas that are not (at least currently) covered by a waiver and may be so funky in the execution that you could never do more than ask forgiveness when this is all done (recognizing that directly targeted permission has not been abundant). My consultative advice is to keep track of some of the more ingenious (and you can read that as “a little crazy”) solutions to challenges you’ve experienced at your facility—the worst thing that could happen would be for all this stuff to get lost in the slipstream of “getting back to normal” and never get shared with the world at large.
I suspect you are all way too busy to be thinking about this now, but (as an amateur student of history) a response to an unprecedented event would make for an interesting and compelling story for future generations. I hope that we’re not bound for a repeat any time soon, but there are lessons (or, dare I say, teachable moments) for all of us. And with the slow decline of the oral storytelling medium, I want to make a case for capturing this…
Until next time, please stay well and safe—and keep rocking it!
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is also a contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.