About CHOA

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is considered one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the country and ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 10 pediatric specialties for 2012-2013.  (US News & World Report, July 2012)  According to a 2009 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, CHOA ranks 42^nd in the nation and has taken a lead on improving this ranking as a part of their 10 year, Vision 2018, Strategic Plan.

CHOA’S commitment to “family centered care of children” is demonstrated throughout the organization and they have developed numerous highly regarded projects and initiatives that support their vision – “best care ... healthier kids;” as well as their values – “care about people, passionate about kids, dedicated to better.”  Many of their constituent based projects and programs have garnered them high recognition, awards and great success such as:  The Good Health is in your Hands: A Hand Hygiene Improvement Initiative, a robust Influenza Vaccination effort, Project S.A.V.E., the Asthma Care and Education (ACE) Program, the Summer Camps program and numerous others. (Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Community Benefit Report, 2011)

            Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta serviced more than 300,000 families in 2011 and contributed more than $149,000 in total community benefit.   According to CHOA’s president, Donna Hyland, “as an organization, the principal of CHOA’s strategic plan is aligned with their vision, “best care….healthier kids” and include the following:

·       Delivering the best care—Children’s ranked in all 10 specialties, as listed by U.S. News & World Report.

·       Inspiring the best in people—Children’s retained 55 percent of graduating residents and 75 percent of fellows in Georgia, a state with critical shortages in pediatric medicine. In addition, we had a benchmark nurse retention rate of 94 percent.

·       Transforming pediatrics—Children’s organized a coalition among more than 1,700 pediatric physicians and Georgia’s hospitals to improve access to care and developed collaborations with our academic partners to increase pediatric research activities and support.

·       Engage and serve our communities—Children’s launched Strong4Life to lead the fight against childhood obesity in Georgia.”

(Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Community Benefit Report, 2011)

Addressing a Childhood Epidemic

CHOA’s mission, “to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow,” drives their strategic planning and is a significant component of their Vision 2018 strategic plan to “evangelize the merits of wellness.”  In an effort to strategically position the organization as a pediatric leader, CHOA continues to identify needs and prevention measure opportunities that support their mission and one such area identified for program and project development, in their portfolio, is childhood obesity.

Nearly 40% of Georgia’s kids are overweight or obese, which means nearly 1 million kids in our state are potentially facing a medical crisis.  Childhood obesity has become a serious public health problem and the two main reasons are being physical inactive and poor nutrition.  There is currently a major focus throughout the country on health education and prevention, with childhood obesity continuing to be the center of attention and a major issue for discussion.

            “A year ago, First Lady Michelle Obama launched the “Let's Move!” campaign from the front lawn of the White House.  The First Lady seeks to promote public awareness to involve parents in the improvement of their children’s health and their own through education, getting healthier foods in schools, improving access to healthful and affordable food and their own parental empowerment.” (Semansky, 2011)

CHOA Leads the Charge in Georgia

The childhood obesity epidemic is said to be more than 30 years in the making. In 2011, CHOA launched Strong4Life, a state-wide wellness movement with the purpose of creating greater awareness of the danger of childhood obesity.  This is “the largest public awareness campaign on childhood obesity and wellness to ever hit Georgia, along with programs, partnerships and clinical intervention to help support kids when and where they need it.” (Strong4Life-Programs, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, 2011)

What is Strong4Life?

In an effort to treat overweight and obese children, Strong4Life is designed to help families change their behavior and build lasting lifestyle habits.  Strong4Life reaches families through public awareness, policy change efforts, school programs, healthcare provider programs, community partnerships and more.   Strong4Life makes improving family nutrition and physical activity habits fun and provides parents and caregivers the support they need to accomplish their goals. 

Strong4Life Consulting Plan

            Business capacity planning helps an organization determine if they can reasonably increase their operational output without straining their current resources.  CHOA’s first step in assessing their strategic capacity to support the Strong4Life program requires identification of the target customer , further assessment of internal resources and identification of external resources that are required.

Problems Essential Issues

            The resolution of potential challenges and conflicts when organizational projects are developed are well served when proper planning and the risk of potential conflict has been assessed and prepared for.  The undertaking of large scale events and activities such as the Family Fitness Fair can bring about potential conflict.  In the case of handling the projects in this program  the organization’s Development Department may be uncomfortable with the added responsibility of seeking additional resources from their well-established list of corporate donors and sponsors.  In addition, there will be external vendors hired to work with the organization and employees may feel uncomfortable or threated in their roles.  For many employees this first time Family Fitness Fair will require they do additional work.

How to solve the problem

            Addressing the needs the aforementioned challenges provide first requires that the project be supported and championed at the highest levels.  When engaging projects and team conflict it is important to establish a clear scope and clarity in the roles and responsibilities of the team members.  When bringing staff together throughout the organization cross functionally, it is important that the project manager helps the project team develop a relationship and shared sense of accomplishment.   Each person’s contribution is interrelated to another team member’s contribution.  Frequent, open communication and updates will help the team see the value of their collective efforts.  It is also important to include celebrating milestones in your project process.  This helps to encourage the team and they are less likely to be annoyed by their additional workload when they are part of a winning team.

Actions Plan 

Developing a successful quality management plan using the is important to an organization as it seeks to be innovative and current.  CHOA has placed a high value on being innovative and engaging the community. Lean Management Principles have been used effectively in manufacturing companies for decades, particularly in Japan. IHI believes that lean principles can be indeed, already are being successfully applied to the delivery in health care. It is important that they take the following steps to effectively bring productive change to the organization and develop a corporate culture that can support constant change while using the Lean Health Care Training (Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2005 )  :

·       When quality is conveyed from the top of the organization it can be far more easily accepted.  Leadership’s enthusiasm or lack of enthusiasm can make or break a project or important program.

·       Engage employees and seek their involvement.  People are less likely to have a problem with something they are involved in.

·       Communicate, communicate, and communicate!  Employees need to be clear about what the change is and why it is important to the organization.

·       Get the information out frequently and early.  Give employees a chance to adjust to the change so that they do not feel blind-sided and unprepared to perform in their jobs.

·       Put it in writing.  Don’t leave important information to the water cooler.  It is ok to advise employees of change verbally but also provide supporting documentation.  It does not matter if it is a memo, newsletter or email.  Just make sure it is something helps to underscore the importance of the project and the significance of its success.

·       Turn your employees into your ambassadors by educating them and when necessary, train them on the new process or program.

·       Solicit feedback and provide recognition and credit where credit is due.  If there is a resistance to the change it is important that you get feedback directly from employees to find out where the concerns are and address them.  It is equally important to reward participation and positive feedback from employees.