May 11
11
Leadership Austin at the UT Club
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending an event for Leadership Austin hosted at The University of Texas Club. Since 1979, Leadership Austin has been instrumental in helping Central Texans, from diverse backgrounds, discover and foster community leadership. Programs include topic focused monthly breakfast meetings, immersion experiences for people new to Austin, and extended cohorts focused on emerging leaders and professionals wishing to expand their engagement and relationship with their home city. Last night’s social was a recruiting event for the 2012 Essentials class, which starts this Fall. It was great to meet alumni ranging from as early as the Class of 1986 to those fresh from the current cohort. Many interesting people looking to join the Leadership Austin alumni community were there as well. It was a pleasure to meet so many folks and learn about how they are contributing to building a better Austin.
To my left is a recovering media producer who now uses her powers as the campaign manager for a not-for-profit called Hope Phones. They recycle our old mobiles and use the proceeds to give cell phones to health workers in developing countries to expand the reach of their health services. A table away, is an intellectual property attorney who can frequently be found counseling bootstrapping entrepreneurs about their innovations. Sitting across from him is a realtor whose business model includes donating 25% of her commissions to a charity of her client’s choice. To my right, sits a marketing research consultant with diverse experience in multiple sectors, a serial entrepreneur, CEO of a startup focused on electronic medical records, and, just a stones throw away, is a brand futurist and one of the lead enablers of TedxAustin. So where is this talented group tapping away at their MacBooks in Austin….we’re all members of Link Coworking.
Until recently, corporate road warriors, distributed small companies, and freelancers were stuck working out of hotel rooms, coffee shops, or home offices. This was okay occasionally, but not sustainable for the longterm. Plus, people longed for a sense of community, collaboration, and networking. Enter coworking. Now, in cities around the country, coworking spaces are opening their doors and redefining the concept of the workplace. The trend has even been noted in Fast Company and the New York Times. For many, these spaces and communities offer the best attributes of a “workplace” with all of the freedoms and flexibility of being independent. Whether you are a traditional organization or an independent entraprenuer, coworking may be for you. Check it out. Now, back to work.
Saybrook University President Mark Schulman, PhD and Director of Alumni Affairs George Aiken, PhD stopped in Dallas and Austin to visit with alumni and their families this weekend. In Austin, a group of more than a dozen people from Central Texas gathered for a great dinner at the historic Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill in the heart of the city. Eating Texas inspired cuisine and dining in a historically restored structure, we got to meet Dr. Schulman and his wife, learn more about fellow alumni in the area, and hear an update on the continuing evolution of the University and its programs. It was a great night and we were pleased to have Dr. and Mrs. Schulman and Dr. Aiken in Austin. Thank you.
On April 7th, Dave Williams had the pleasure of opening the annual meeting of the Texas Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) in San Antonio, Texas with a plenary talk on the Science for Improvement (see link below). More than 200 members came together for a mutli-day conference with a focus on accelerating performance. The Texas MGMA is a professional association representing medical practice administrators across Texas with over 400 members.
Dave spoke to the attendees about how they can apply the science of improvement to enhance quality, reduce costs, and improve patient safety. The talk was rooted in the work he is doing as an improvement advisor with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
For many, quality improvement and patient safety is mainly viewed as an in-hospital pursuit, but risks of harm and improvement opportunities exist in out-patient settings as well. For example, a project in Massachusetts funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) called PROMISES (Proactive Reduction in Outpatient Malpractice: Improving Safety Efficiency and Satisfaction) is a three year, state-wide malpractice and patient safety initiative in the primary care setting. In addition, the Coalition of Advanced Emergency Medical Systems (CAEMS) has partnered with Positive Eye Consulting on a improvement and patient safety collaborative in the ambulance sector.
Interested in the talk, download a PDF of the slides here.
The Brattleboro Retreat is a not-for-profit mental health and addiction treatment center located in Southern Vermont. It provides a range of diagnosis and treatments for children, adolescents, and adults throughout New England. More than 175 years old, the Retreat is located on a historic campus in beautiful Brattleboro, VT. It was the first mental health hospital in the state and one of the first ten in the United States.
A few years ago, the Retreat was searching for patient populations that were underserved. This was post 9/11 and several years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Uniformed services professional including police, fire, EMS, prisons, and military were identified as sector with unique similarities and needs. The result was the ground breaking Uniformed Services Program (UPS).
David M. Williams, PhD has had the pleasure of serving on the UPS advisory board since the program’s genesis. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) recently interviewed Dr. Williams about the program. You can read the article here.