In September of 2021, Doctors of BC conducted its sixth annual Health Authority Engagement Survey, which measures BC physicians’ level of engagement with their respective health authority. The largest of its kind in Canada, the survey provides the opportunity for members to share their thoughts on health and safety, trust, and leadership in the workplace, that in turn will help inform important discussions between Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health, and BC’s doctors.
For consistency, the same benchmark engagement questions are asked on an annual basis. Vernon Jubilee Hospital was noticed provincially for improvements, engagement & collaboration with its Health Authority and physician engagement.
Here’s how they did it:
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Consistent attention was given to relationships between local Health Authority (HA) leaders & physicians; key local HA leaders are very engaged and involve physicians.
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Effective feedback loops (departments raise issues/questions to Medical Staff Association (MSA) executives; MSA executives bring issues to HA partners at Local Facility Engagement Committee (LFEC) and other meetings; MSA executives share HA feedback and outcomes with physicians in various venues including VJH Physician Society Working Group (VJHPS WG), department meetings, and MSA meetings.
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Physicians initiated and led process change during COVID.
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Success of previous engagement activities encouraged physicians to participate; physicians receiving Facility Engagement (FE) funding present their completed projects to the VJHPS WG.
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VJH WG is effective in initiating change; changes were made when they realized they were losing some engagement. Physicians were open to feedback, developed a new plan and implemented it quickly. Projects are regularly reviewed.
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Intentional changes were made to enhance engagement at meetings (rotating chair, break-out rooms, cameras on.)
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Different opportunities are open for physicians to become engaged e.g. PQI, FE Alliance.
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Transparency is maintained between physicians and the VJHPS WG executives and HA administration.
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Physicians are action and results driven; they want to see change and continue to identify and address areas they can impact.
Check out VJH’s results or view the entire 2021 Health Authority Engagement Survey Results: Supplemental Report.