Tip of the week: Create idea boards

As part of the ongoing commitment to continuously improving their quality of service, many Ritz Carlton hotels have organized a program known within the industry as "idea boards." These simple bulletin boards are placed in strategic locations throughout the facility. Hotel employees can pin up any good idea they have for improving service, eliminating waste, improving customer satisfaction, and so on. The ideas are routinely evaluated by management, and a quality improving team further explores promising ideas.

Any medical staff could easily adapt this idea. The medical staff lounge, surgeon's lounge, and medical staff records dictation areas could be furnished with such a bulletin board. You may also want to create a special e-mail address for ideas to be sent directly to the medical staff office.