Colton Cannon, BS, from the School of Dentistry and Claire Knutson, BS, from the School of Public Health are working with the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System to observe how the recently implemented tiered huddle system is operating. The hope is to expand these huddles across the organization and help to develop and implement tools to scale up this work, including development of an objective method to monitor the lifecycle of the tiered huddle system and monitor team alignment. Cannon and Knutson are working to better understand how to measure the success of the program, while finding ways to better serve the organization.
“We have learned just how unique every aspect of our health care system is. Each team in a hospital has its own identity, objectives, operations, and needs. Being able to adapt our understanding to the culture of the team has been a valuable experience,” said Cannon and Knutson. They have seen value in the establishment of team culture and the importance of including diverse perspectives of all members of the health care team.
They added, “Very often we can get stuck in the status quo. Looking into a system with fresh eyes has been a very worthwhile experience for us, and we hope to bring a fresh perspective to the organization and the project.”