Benchmarking is crucial for promoting a culture of safety in healthcare, as it helps to compare current practices with the best ones. There are several types of benchmarking, including internal, competitive, functional, and generic benchmarking. Internal benchmarking helps to compare practices in different branches of one organization and identify safety problems. Competitive benchmarking helps to identify best practices among similar organizations. On this level, benchmarking demonstrates what will and will not work to promote safety in a healthcare organization (Foley, 2017). Functional benchmarking is comparing the organization to companies from other industries that may have similar processes. It may be helpful for understanding how quality management and leadership affect the promotion of the culture of safety (Foley, 2017). Finally, generic benchmarking helps to have a fresh look at the culture of safety and gain new ideas (Foley, 2017). Thus, benchmarking is crucial for improving safety culture.
The importance of effective teams is also difficult to underestimate for the culture of safety. Currently, clinical practice is becoming more complex and specialized every day. Since patients often have multiple conditions, care providers need to work together to treat these conditions. Thus, effective communication within teams is crucial, as it helps to avoid malpractice by effectively managing the information and transferring patients (Global Research Center, n.d.). At the same time, effective communication within teams helps to reduce stress and burnout. This reduces turnover rates, which reduces the number of missed treatments (Global Research Center, n.d.). Finally, effective teams often have improved communication patterns with all the stakeholders, including patients and their families (Global Research Center, n.d.). This helps to improve patient satisfaction and trust, which is crucial for promoting safety within healthcare organizations. Thus, creating effective teams in healthcare organizations promotes the culture of safety.
Reference
Foley, A. (2017). 4 types of benchmarking in healthcare. Web.
Global Research Center. (n.d.). Why is teamwork important in healthcare? HRH Resource Center. Web.