Understanding variation in you data, and getting comfortable with what that variation does and does not mean is crucial for meaningful improvement. Too much for one episode, I'm splitting Episode 3 into two parts to have more manageable chunks of info to process. And hopefully after both parts, you will be ready to one of two things. Either take every Year-over-Year or Pie chart you are handed and throw it in the trash or, take that as an opportunity to say "can I get the data that went into this chart broken down into time sequence" and start showing people what real QI looks like!

Where to start? How you build a toolkit for improvement? Its simple! You start by counting. How to count? What to count? How frequently to count? We will start to discuss these issues, and many others in the episode. Come and get started on your journey into building better systems around you. And it all starts with getting a roadmap of where you are.

Systems vs Individuals! This would be the Ali vs Frazier of battles, except that the system is so much more powerful than the individuals that it's more like Ali vs "some random person who has been casually checking out the boxing class for a couple weeks". The first step in building a better EMS workplace, with better outcomes for our patients, is understanding the power of taking the focus away from the individuals at work and focusing on the system(s) they do that work in.

There is a way we can make our EMS and Healthcare systems better. And I believe it can be done by anybody, at any level, within our organizations. So, I decided to start a podcast about it and share this information with anyone who is interested. I'm learning this podcasting thing as we go, maybe you'll join me on the journey.