Problem:
The cost of the health care industry has always been rising since the early 1980s. It has been a growing concern in both the industry and society. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is no exception. Even though the average length of stay (LOS) for the patients in MGH has been declining (Exhibit 10), it is still the highest compared to their competitors (Exhibit 6). Besides the cost, there is no uniformity of process and standardization across different facilities and departments of the hospital. MGH lacks communication and coordination between the facilities.

Key Issues:
Dr. David Torchiana (Cardiac Surgeon) and Dr. Richard Bohmer (Quality Improvement Administrator) want to improve the process in the hospital by …show more content…

As mentioned in the case study, standardizing the process is expected to reduce the length of stay for the patients by 20 to 30%. This will also help to collect extensive information on each patient in computer database to assist in further research. Care path needs to be successfully implemented first with CABG surgery and then extended to all other practices slowly. This way, it will influence other groups and increase their acceptance of care path.

Action plan:
MGH should keep the care path flexible while implementing it. Dr. Torchiana must lead the efforts of rolling out the CABG care path plan with the help of Dr. Bohmer. It requires either charismatic or servant leadership style to implement. Servant leaders often lead by example. They have high integrity and lead with generosity. Dr. Torchiana is best suited given his involvement with several process improvements committees at MGH and his knowledge of the hospital. He can set an example by leading the care path for CABG using servant leadership style. Dr. Torchiana and Dr. Bohmer must Plan, Lead, Influence, Negotiate, and Communicate (PLINC) in all these efforts to successfully complete this challenge.

Short Term (30 to 90 days):
Team members of the CAGB care path must educate all the staff involved in CABG surgery (Exhibit 2 & 3).
Educate the patients and reduce the length of stay