The Right Systems Approach

Systems-based care is based on the premise that humans err and that when high-performing systems have protective barriers in place, human errors are minimized. As with other aspects of healthcare, a human error produces inconsistent and unreliable results in vascular access. Therefore, a systematic approach is necessary to reduce the likelihood of human errors and to promote patient safety. The Vessel Health and Preservation® (VHP) model represents the right knowledge in vascular access, which drives a systems-based approach to vascular access care. This specialized knowledge needs to be consistently applied in individual care units called microsystems for meaningful and sustainable process improvement. Vascular access care is an essential component of modern health-care delivery, and one could argue that it is the most important component of treatment delivery. Unreliable or delayed vascular access creates a bottleneck in effective diagnosis and infusion delivery. When care is delivered in poor-performing systems, costs are higher, complications are greater, and both staff and patients are frustrated. The consequences of effective care variation can be deadly and not just costly. This is true in vascular access as well. The microsystems approach is an effective framework for improving vascular access care. It accounts for the complexities of healthcare, which are often high stress and high demand. Vascular access is a microsystem that, with the right intention, can leverage VHP knowledge and talent when other microsystems need reliable infusion delivery. This will improve care and reduce the associated costs. The key to implementing this in larger health systems is to promote a high-performance culture and let that design and implement knowledge-driven care. This is when value is created and sustainable “do-no-harm” vascular access care happens.