RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Overarching goals: a strategy for improving healthcare quality and safety?
JF BMJ Quality & Safety
JO BMJ Qual Saf
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 187
OP 193
DO 10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001082
VO 22
IS 3
A1 Karen C Nanji
A1 Timothy G Ferris
A1 David F Torchiana
A1 Gregg S Meyer
YR 2013
UL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/22/3/187.abstract
AB The management literature reveals that many successful organisations have strategic plans that include a bold ‘stretch-goal’ to stimulate progress over a ten-to-thirty-year period. A stretch goal is clear, compelling and easily understood. It serves as a unifying focal point for organisational efforts. The ambitiousness of such goals has been emphasised with the phrase Big Hairy Audacious Goal (‘BHAG’). President Kennedy's proclamation in 1961 that ‘this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth’ provides a famous example. This goal energised the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and it captured the attention of the American public and resulted in one of the largest accomplishments of any organisation. The goal set by Sony, a small, cash-strapped electronics company in the 1950s, to change the poor image of Japanese products around the world represents a classic BHAG. Few examples of quality goals that conform to the BHAG definition exist in the healthcare literature. However, the concept may provide a useful framework for organisations seeking to transform the quality of care they deliver. This review examines the merits and cautions of setting overarching quality goals to catalyse quality improvement efforts, and assists healthcare organisations with determining whether to adopt these goals.