One of my sayings is, "To determine a solution for tomorrow, we must first understand today."  Medical healthcare practices this proposition to consistently help improve people's lives. What can we learn from this age old practice?

A foundational medical mnemonic tool used to communicate solutions is SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation). This communications framework conveys critical information for medical patients in a clear and structured manner to promote collaborative understanding and safety. The concept was developed by the Navy and introduced to medicine by Kaiser Permanente. In summary, thanks to Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), here is the acronym definition:

S=Situation (a concise statement of the problem)

B=Background (pertinent and brief information related to the situation)

A=Assessment (analysis and considerations of options — what you found/think)

R=Recommendation (action requested/recommended — what you want)

This tool allows universal communication for patient handoff or receiving authorization for decisions within 8 to 10 seconds. This structured approach promotes effective leadership to set a positive active tone, think out load and define a plan, and remain approachable. The most difficult challenge in social interactions is getting all perspective to effectively listen, especially differing hierarchical roles.  

Business process improvement methodology tends to approach problems in a similar critical thinking manner. For example, another mnemonic is DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). The primary difference between the concepts is the dependent variable, the problem, ex., patient’s condition, and a key independent variable, time. Patient satisfaction requires quick response and resolution.  Business improvement expands out from a patient to a very complex network environment of systems, people, and processes which tends to allow for more observation time being available. The concepts are quite different, however communication of the end research targets similar goals of reaching solutions that are universally agreed upon.

The SBAR provides a structured communication path of current state to logically determine a path to solution, in a clear and concise manner. This helps align all involved parties to a universal action plan. I believe clear communications, provided in a form like SBAR, along with the medical ideal of compassion can be the unifying element needed to reach agreement for customers to receive the services that best satisfy their needs.