Building relationships to improve quality

Abstract

When three of Canada's leading teaching hospitals merged, creating the University Health Network, three unique, new positions were created to improve the relationship between the laboratory and clinical staff: clinical liaison/quality coordinator, transfusion safety officer, and point-of-care testing/quality assurance coordinator. All were prime candidates for taking their technical skills and experience beyond the laboratory, and they learned to nurture the new relationship formed with clinical staff. In this article, the authors explain how some additional skills had to be learned and how new philosophies had to be adopted.