50 policies and plans for outpatient services

"We can't run. We can't pass. We can't stop the run. We can't stop the pass. We can't kick. Other than that, we're just not a very good football team right now"--Bruce Coslet. The quote selected above is pertinent to the overall intent of this book. If employees, physicians, allied health professionals and contract workers can't run, can't pass, can't kick, can't stop the run or stop the pass, then we aren't a very good healthcare team. Translated, that means we wouldn't know what to do, when to do it, how to do it and why we are doing it for our patients and for each other. Documents play such an important role in healthcare. They are the bread for our butter. We can't live without them and yet on many days we can't stand the sight of one more piece of paper on our desk. However, policies, procedures and plans, in part, help us know what to do, when to do it and why are doing what we are doing in the healthcare setting. They help reduce and eliminate variation, which ultimately reduces and eliminates errors. Documents of this nature are great teaching tools. They support our mission, help us achieve our vision and support our values day-to-day. They are fundamental building blocks for the culture of an organization. If documents are poorly researched, written and executed, the results can and will lead to great losses in more ways than one. The documents included in this book are not intended to implement as is--they are templates. The template definition that we adopted is as follows: a model or standard for making comparisons. So keep that in mind--do not use these documents as is; that is not the intent"--Provided by publisher.