CHOC Children’s has tapped a seasoned healthcare leader to further increase performance excellence across the pediatric healthcare system.

In her role as executive director of performance excellence, Sharon Nielsen Wilson will find ways to improve and enhance how CHOC patients and families are served across the organization at all levels. Further, Sharon is tasked with facilitating, understanding and supporting change throughout the organization.

“I am thrilled for this new opportunity at CHOC, and I look forward to building upon a strong culture of service and performance excellence to help propel CHOC forward as it strives to become the destination for children’s health,” Sharon said.

Bringing a clinical background as well as a dozen years of experience in improving systems and workflows, Sharon joined CHOC in May 2019 from Kaiser Permanente. She began work there in 2006 as a registered nurse and most recently served as director of performance improvement for its facility in Harbor City, Calif.

Sharon holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and is currently pursing a master’s degree in quality assurance. She is also certified in change management through Implementation Management Association (IMA) and quality insurance through CSUDH.

We caught up with Sharon recently to learn more about her role and what she hopes to accomplish at CHOC.

What is Quality Improvement and why is it important to a healthcare organization?

Quality Improvement (QI) is a proactive and systematic approach to improve processes and systems.

QI models present a systematic, formal framework for establishing QI processes in your practice. Understanding and properly implementing QI is essential to a well-functioning practice and is necessary for improving efficiency, patient safety or clinical outcomes.

Examples of common QI models include:

• IHI’s Model for Improvement: Thismodel uses plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles to test interventions on a small scale. The model combines two popular QI models: Total Quality Management (TQM) and Rapid-Cycle Improvement (RCI).

• Six Sigma: A method of improvement that focuses on reducing variation.

• Lean: An approach that reduces waste by decreasing non-value-added work in systems and processes.

How can all CHOC associates take an active role in improving performance excellence?

Associates can take an active role by taking advantage of the certification programs and partnership CHOC’s Performance Excellence team will be offering beginning this fall and together effectively identify, plan and execute improvement projects, deliver successful results and spread changes across the entire system.

The certification programs Performance Excellence will be offering are tailored to each level in the organization. The programs will help build a more solid foundation of knowledge and skills in the art and science of improvement within CHOC.

What do you see as key performance strengths for CHOC – and how can we build upon them to further enhance how we serve patients and families?

I see our associates’ engagement and dedication to CHOC’s mission as some of key performance strengths here at CHOC. Some ways to build on these strengths is to invest in our workforce and infuse performance excellence into our culture. As we continue to build reliability and efficiency into our processes and systems, we will be able to remove frustration and the potential for error and add value to the way we serve one another, our patients and their families.