FAQs ABOUT BECOMING A PARAGON COACH What is a Paragon Coach Paragon coaches are Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) members from the critical care multiprofessional team. Coaches have significant experience diagnosing barriers to the delivery of Right Care Right Now™. They are interested in assisting peers across the U.S. in improving bedside care. Paragon coaches are investigators, mentors and problem solvers. They possess the ability to bring cost-effective performance improvement into focus. As critical care experts, Paragon coaches are dedicated to advancing excellence in patient care delivery beyond the influence of their own unit, work collaboratively in teams, and are able serve at least once within a three-year period. Paragon coaches have a strong desire to be involved in creating a community of purpose around excellence. Who Should Apply Individuals and project teams that: • • • • • • Are U.S. SCCM members in good standing representing multi-professional roles on the critical care team. Have at least five years of critical care experience providing clinical bedside care. Have demonstrated success in leading quality improvement projects within their unit or within their hospital system serving on cross-functional teams. Are able to pinpoint obstacles, stimulate others to turn challenges into opportunities, scrutinize action plans, and assist with follow-up. Are critical care experts from a variety ICU environments including SICU, MICU, Neuro, etc. Include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists and critical care quality improvement specialists.
Benefits to Becoming a Paragon Coach • • • • Coaches selected for Paragon may be featured on the SCCM Paragon web pages and may be interviewed for Critical Connections and/or the SCCM enewsletter. Paragon coaches will join a group of individuals who are committed to critical care excellence and will have the opportunity to network with that group for the benefit of their unit. Coaches attending SCCM’s annual Congresses will be recognized by displaying their Paragon coach ribbon. Honoraria for time away from the hospital will be offered (see below).
Coaches serving on a Paragon project team will be acknowledged as advocates for critical care quality, safety and reliability. Reaching out to colleagues to assist them in adapting and adopting Right Care Right Now™ in their critical care units is an important opportunity. Compensation SCCM will provide honoraria for coaching services at a rate of $2000 per onsite day for physicians and $1000 per onsite day for therapists, pharmacists, and nurses. Honoraria may be paid in two ways: 1) To the applicant’s hospital. 2) Directly to the applicant. Expenses related to travel are paid by SCCM except incidentals. SCCM travel services will be used so that coaches do not have to seek reimbursement. A memorandum of understanding will be executed to clarify honoraria prior to serving on the first project.
Responsibilities Coaches selected to serve on a project team will be required to commit to the following sequence of activities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Respond promptly to preliminary email with the project team and SCCM project manager to review information about the partner hospital and organize the schedule; Participate in a one-hour project team teleconference to discuss survey data and information submitted by the partner hospital; Participate in a one-hour joint teleconference prior to the site visit to review data and discuss the site visit with the partner hospital team; Participate in a two day site visit with travel the day before and the day following the site visit; Review a written report prepared by the project manager detailing recommendations; Participate in three follow-up quarterly conference calls or webinars; and Respond promptly to communication needs with SCCM project manager during follow-up phase.
Potential Challenges Paragon coaches need to possess expertise in a variety of areas to be effective in helping their colleagues. Some examples of common problem areas that hospitals may need assistance with include: • • • • • • • • • Hospital acquired infections Inadequate team communications during multi-disciplinary rounds End-of-life program/team restructuring Analysis of data reporting and related action or lack thereof Analysis of barriers to implement the surviving sepsis campaign bundles hospital wide Restructuring of critical care committees Creating a culture of value around the multi-professional team Consistency in care delivery Development of rapid response teams/empowering rapid response staff
Paragon Coach Training Program Approved applicants will attend an evening reception program on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm and a one day Paragon coach training program on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm at SCCM’s 38th annual Congress in Nashville, Tennessee. This training will accommodate a limited group of individuals and provide a foundation for serving on or leading a Paragon project team. There will be a combination of interactive discussions and role-plays. Congress registration is not required to attend the coach-training program. A registration fee associated with training will be required at $395 for physicians and $250 for nurses, pharmacists, and respiratory therapists. The registration fee will be reimbursed by SCCM upon the first Paragon project for which coaches are scheduled. Registration fees are due by December 1, 2008. Travel costs and accommodations will be the responsibility of the applicant. If an attendee does not engage as a Paragon coach for any reason, the training will be of value in his or her own institutions. Reimbursement of registration fees due to a lack of deployment will not be provided. Application Process The application process is ongoing however, there will be limited seats available at the coach training program in 2009 hence earlier submissions are strongly encouraged. At that time, the applicant will be sent a registration form for the training sessions and will be asked to complete a SCCM conflict of interest form if one is not already on file. The final deadline date for all applications is December 1, 2008. How to submit your application Click here to access the application, which can be emailed or faxed to: Lori A. Harmon Program Manager Paragon Quality Implementation Program +1 (847) 493-6428