Quality as an organizational strategy

In this episode of EMS One-Stop, host Rob Lawrence is joined by quality improvement expert, Dr. Dave Williams, recent co-author of the book, “Quality as an Organizational Strategy,” and Dr. Jonathan Studnek, executive director of Wake County EMS.

Together they discuss the five activities for organization’s leaders to provide the structure to begin working on making quality their strategy.

These activities are centered on:

1. Purpose

2. Viewing the organization as a system

3. Obtaining information

4. Planning to improve

5. Managing improvement efforts

These five activities form a system for the leaders of an organization to focus their learning, planning and actions.

Memorable quotes

• "Leadership's job is to build systems where staff can be rock stars and bring their best selves every day." — Dr. Dave Williams

• "Understanding your purpose as an EMS agency, like being responsible for cardiac arrest survival, is essential in improving performance." — Dr. Jon Studnek

• "Our secret weapon in improvement is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, where we learn fast by making low-risk, small-scale changes." — Dr. Dave Williams

• "These five activities are the key elements that leaders should be engaging with to drive their organizations forward." — Dr. Jon Studnek

01:14 – Dr. Dave Williams shares his background in quality improvement and EMS

02:12 – Dr. Jon Studnek introduces himself and talks about his journey in EMS leadership

03:56 – Dr. Williams discusses his book, “Quality as an Organizational Strategy” and its origins, and outlines the five core activities of quality as an organizational strategy

15:02 – Dr. Studnek describes implementing the quality framework in EMS, using cardiac arrest survival as a real-world example

23:36 – Rob and Dr. Studnek discuss interconnectedness in EMS systems and fleet maintenance

30:00 – Dr. Williams explains how small-scale changes using the PDSA cycle help improve EMS operations

35:00 – Final thoughts from Dr. Studnek on leadership and quality as a guide for day-to-day work