IHI Care Operating System

By designing and deploying technology-enabled workflows, IHI Care Operating System (IHI CareOS) connects clinical care, operations, informatics, and analytics in a holistic environment that prioritizes and accelerates learning and improvement. Just like the operating system on your phone or PC, IHI CareOS, once implemented, works in the background, facilitating and improving the experience for health care’s end users — patients and providers.

IHI CareOS focuses on improving systems, not people — recognizing that individual performance is a property of the system. It weaves together disparate, piecemeal improvement initiatives into a practical, tech-enabled learning and management system. IHI CareOS is a transformative force driving better health care for all.

Key Components

• A safety and effectiveness management system that includes a sensor system to detect and understand safety risks in real time while continually evaluating clinical performance; and an effector system enabling rapid improvement of daily operations and enterprise-wide priorities.
• An efficiency and patient flow management system that continually monitors flow and evaluates clinical variance, feeding effector systems that improve flow and reduce waste.
• An experience management system that takes in data from clinicians and patients about their experience of providing and receiving care in the system. This system responds to those experiences with clinical coaching, supports to staff, and service improvements for patients.

Benefits

IHI Care Operating System represents the next frontier in health care quality and safety. By focusing on systems rather than individuals, it creates a sustainable model for delivering high-quality care that benefits both patients and health care providers.

• Enhanced Patient Outcomes: By optimizing workflows and reducing variability in care delivery, IHI CareOS significantly improves patient outcomes.
• Improved Clinician Experience: The system helps reconnect clinicians with their purpose, reducing burnout and increasing job satisfaction.
• Operational Efficiency: IHI CareOS streamlines operations, leading to cost savings and more efficient use of resources.

Practical Implementation

Implementing IHI CareOS involves a strategic approach that includes:

• Assessment: Evaluating current systems and identifying areas for improvement.
• Planning: Developing a comprehensive plan that aligns with organizational goals.
• Execution: Implementing the system with a focus on training and support for staff.
• Monitoring: Continuously monitoring performance and making adjustments as needed.

IHI CareOS Consulting Services

IHI offers expert consulting services to maximize the value of IHI Care Operating System for your health care organization. The IHI CareOS suite of consulting services are designed to deliver the proven, tailored solutions your organization needs to achieve measurable and continuous improvement in systems, patient care, and provider well-being.

IHI CareOS Safety Management System (SMS) Consulting

Operationalizing safety is the most important strategy to ensure proactive identification and resolution of issues that could lead to workforce or patient harm. The SMS facilitates daily work that drives safety organizationally rather than from a Quality department focus. This proven approach shifts the organization from reactive to proactive and will help reduce occurrence of serious safety events and recurrence of previous events.

• Proactive system improvements for identifying potential issues or vulnerabilities before problems arise, ensuring a safer health care environment
• Integration of event triage into daily workflows for rapid system learning, leader engagement, and team collaboration that drive results
• Culture of Continuous Learning development, wherein every team member contributes to ongoing initiatives that improve safety and performance
• Evidence-based practices and Safety Science principles embedded into the core of your safety operations for more reliable health care

IHI CareOS Safety Management System (SMS) consulting includes Root Cause Analysis, Human Factors, and Tiered Escalating Huddles consulting services, as described below. These services may also be individually delivered based on client need.

IHI CareOS SMS: Expert Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Investigation and Consulting

Included in IHI CareOS SMS Consulting | Also available individually based on client need 

Whether your organization needs assistance with analyzing and problem solving a complex systems issue or needs a complete assessment and strategy for optimizing the serious safety event review process, IHI’s world renowned safety experts will partner with you to help meet your specific organizational goals and expectations.

• Data-driven, risk-based prioritized assessments to improve system efficiency, advance productivity, and prove cost-effectiveness
• Event learning communications, risk factors identification, and full integration of recommended preventive actions
• Practical, corrective action plans, and change management strategies to support IHI CareOS buy-in throughout the organization
• Custom training to build internal capacity, maximizing the impact, value, and benefit of RCA investigations

IHI CareOS SMS: Human Factors Consulting

Included in IHI CareOS SMS Consulting | Also available individually based on client need 

Human factors engineers (HFEs) can help your organization solve complex technology or clinical workflow/design issues. Our clinically informed HFEs will work with your team on a specific project, providing guidance rooted in safety science and decades of experience in improving health care delivery.

• Guidance on incorporating human factors components within sociotechnical frameworks to ensure peak performance
• User-friendly solutions and human capability assessments for increased workplace safety, efficiency, and workforce well-being
• Optimization of EHR interoperability for usability, workload reduction, and improved data management
• Pre-purchase product evaluations for informed decision-making based on standardization and needs analysis

IHI CareOS SMS: Tiered Escalating Huddle Implementation and Optimization Consulting

Included in IHI CareOS SMS Consulting | Also available individually based on client need 

An effective and efficient tiered escalating huddle is a cornerstone of IHI CareOS, driving optimal system performance across your organization. IHI's consulting services optimize your organization’s huddle processes with the CareOS model, ensuring regular leadership updates, continuous refinement, and effective frontline staff involvement. This approach fosters accountability and trust, enhances collaboration, and leads to significant improvements in patient safety and organizational quality.

• Alignment of Tiered Huddle processes with the IHI CareOS model for optimal system performance throughout the organization
• Process development for regular updates to leadership, continuous refinement of Tiered Huddle components, feedback on lessons learned and implementation of insights gained
• Facilitation of frontline staff involvement in daily operations, encouraging effective collaboration and coordinated problem-solving across teams
• Establishes accountability in issue identification and teamwork, leading to improvements in patient safety and organizational quality

Specialized Human Experience Management System Consulting

Understanding and improving the clinician and patient experience has never been more important than it is today. Our specialized consulting creates formalized communication strategies that build team morale and ensure clinicians and patients feel heard and valued. We help organizations implement proven workflows to proactively identify and resolve issues that could negatively affect the experience of giving or receiving care. Utilization of tools and processes put in place help leaders across the organization understand where opportunities exist and feedback loops further enhance capability to promote learning and ongoing improvement.

• Improves patient-provider interactions to enhance patient experience, drive engagement, boost loyalty, and heighten overall satisfaction
• Creates formalized communication strategies that build team morale, nurture frontline staff well-being, and ensure clinicians and patients feel heard and valued
• Helps your organization to actualize programs for performance-based incentives, staff appreciation, achievement and recognition, and leadership training and certification opportunities
• Encourages regular assessments and feedback loops to enhance staff experience and efficiency, improving outcomes

Analytics Strategy Development and Deployment Consulting

In health care, we have more data than ever but continue to struggle to turn that data into actionable insights for our clinicians and leaders. IHI's Analytics Strategy Development & Deployment Consulting enhances operational efficiency and empowers leadership with real-time, data-driven decision-making for continuous improvement. We help your organization get the most out of your tech and data investments by implementing a strategy to drive integration and optimization to support effective, efficient and data driven daily operations. We know you are making strategic decisions on the deployment of AI. Let IHI’s experts help your team create a strategy that will enable your organization to evolve with AI as its capability improves.

• Advanced analytics and data management strategies to enhance operational efficiency and empower leadership teams with real-time, data-driven decision-making for continuous improvement
• Applying innovative tools (business intelligence, data warehouses, EHRs, reporting and rounding platforms) to improve daily operations upon deployment of IHI CareOS
• Integration of advanced AI technologies for predictive analytics and routine task automation to reduce labor costs and minimize errors
• Establishment of robust data governance frameworks and intuitive data visualizations to drive forward the organization’s data strategy and care operating system initiatives

EHR Strategy and Optimization Consulting

IHI's EHR Strategy and Optimization Consulting empowers health care organizations to maximize the potential of their electronic health records (EHR) systems. Our expert evaluation and strategies for high-impact optimization ensure usability, reliability, and interoperability. We help your organization create a structure to evaluate and design efficient, user-friendly workflows that enhance communication and data flow, reducing administrative workload and allowing clinicians to focus on patient care. Additionally, we implement advanced data visualization techniques to transform raw data into meaningful insights, facilitating informed decision-making and optimized strategic planning directly within the clinical workflows.

• Expert evaluation and high-level optimization of electronic health records (EHR) to ensure usability, reliability, and interoperability with IHI CareOS
• Ongoing system and operational maintenance to ensure data security, data accuracy, and data integrity across seamless data exchanges through the care organization, streamlining communications and enhancing team collaboration   
• Effective management of your EHR system, creating an efficient, user-friendly workflow that maximizes communication and data flow while reducing administrative workload, and allowing clinicians to focus on patient care instead of complex interfaces
• Implementation of Advance Data Visualization to transform raw data into meaningful visual insights for more informed decision-making and optimized strategic planning

Regulatory Compliance Support and Consultation

IHI's Regulatory Compliance Support and Consultation helps equip health care organizations with the structure needed to successfully maintain regulatory and accreditation compliance expectations. Our comprehensive assessments ensure alignment with health care regulations and industry standards. We provide tailored strategies, custom recommendations, and personalized action plans to effectively manage surveys and address identified gaps. With ongoing support and expert guidance, we help organizations navigate complex regulatory changes, maintain compliance over time, and consistently demonstrate an organizational commitment to excellence and high-quality care.

• Comprehensive assessments for regulatory compliance and alignment with health care regulations to ensure all industry standards and requirements are continually met
• Strategies, custom recommendations, and personalized action plans for effectively managing surveys and solving any identified gaps
• Ongoing support and expert guidance to help your health care organization navigate regulatory changes, maintain compliance over time, and consistently achieve regulatory excellence
   

Related Content

• Revolutionizing Healthcare Delivery: The Power of Care Operating Systems (Becker’s Hospital Review podcast)
• The Leader's Role in Optimal Care Systems (Healthcare Executive article)
• To Improve Health Care, Focus on Fixing Systems — Not People (Harvard Business Review article)
• Care Operating Systems: Empowering the Health Workforce (Becker’s Hospital Review article)
• IHI Care Operating System: The Next Frontier in Quality and Safety (RamaOnHealthcare article)
• What Is Involved in Creating a Care Operating System? (Healthcare Innovation article)