One of the most pressing issues that finance and nursing can rally around is patient safety. The wake up call came when The Institute of Medicine published two reports, To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, showing that many patient safety issues can be linked to a lack of teamwork among all levels and components of a healthcare system. Groups like finance and nursing, for example, tend not to work together as a team, causing faulty handoffs; if finance doesn't know that the reason a nurse manager is requesting new equipment is to reduce patient falls or infections, the needed dollars may not be approved.

Additionally, the emergence of pay-for-performance is also forcing nursing and finance to become more aligned. By "performance," payers really mean "value," or the best possible quality for the least possible cost. Suddenly, there's a much closer link between how hospitals get paid and how they deliver care. Nursing and finance are at the front line of the pay-for-performance revolution. If finance and nursing don't cooperate to ensure high-quality, efficient patient care, an organization will start seeing payments decline.

One of the most successful solutions to finance and nursing collaboration issues is the use of the Executive WalkRound™. This approach, developed by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, aligns finance and clinical leadership on patient safety. It is a worthwhile endeavor to begin building collaboration between these two departments and can show staff they can all work together for the business of caring. This Audio Webcast will explain how the Executive WalkRound™ can be implemented in your organization to ensure patients get the care they need. You'll learn best practices for using this approach, key questions you should ask to make the most of an Executive WalkRound™ and how to overcome resistance from staff when putting this plan in place.