72x36 Poster Template

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Under Pressure Making the Case for Hospital
Libraries Rebecca Bayrer, MLIS Suzanne Beattie,
MLIS Elizabeth Lucas, MLIS, AHIP Dawn Melberg,
MLIS Eve Melton, MLIS, AHIP Kaiser Permanente
Northern California Libraries
Survey Method
Introduction
Preliminary Results, 2010
Next Steps
Purpose This poster showcases the development
and implementation of methods to qualitatively
and quantitatively assess medical librarians
contributions to their hospital
system. Participants The authors are a
committee of librarians from Kaiser Permanente
hospitals in Northern California. Brief
description We were asked to develop a way of
measuring the libraries return on investment. We
created a new mission-oriented system for
labeling and categorizing library tasks, then
created an after-visit online survey for outcome
measurement. Early results indicate that our
work has a significant effect on clinical care
and quality at our institutions, and that library
patrons recognize this value.

• Implementation All Kaiser Permanente librarians
  in Northern California will use the standardized
  survey beginning in spring 2011.
• Future development
• The committee will create a standardized method
  for assessing and reporting on survey results.
• Results will be shared with local and regional
  leadership.
• Results will be used to evaluate and refine
  library services on an ongoing basis.

During the pilot program, our survey showed 145
adverse events were avoided thanks to library
searches.
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• Benefits of our approach
• The Kaiser Permanente libraries mission and
  goals are now closely aligned with those of our
  organization.
• The value categories allow us to speak our
  administrators language and better convey our
  value to key organizational leaders.
• The survey results provide quantitative data on
  library user satisfaction, solidly supporting our
  contribution to quality patient care and hospital
  performance improvement.
• Data is standardized across the region to
  provide a consistent method of evaluating our
  services as a whole.
• The value categories and survey process are
  easily adaptable for use in other medical library
  settings.

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First Steps
Committee process We held virtual and in-person
meetings from summer 2009 to the present. Early
in the process we conducted a literature review
to look for established best practices.
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• Value categories Inspired by the article cited
  at right, we looked for a way to tie the
  libraries work more closely to Kaiser
  Permanentes mission and goals. We began
  assigning librarian-mediated search requests and
  other questions to a category framework derived
  from components of the hospitals mission
• Clinical care
• Quality / risk / safety
• Member services
• Education / knowledge
• Research / innovation
• Utilization / business / management
• Other
• Surveys We also looked for a way to
  quantitatively evaluate our libraries
  contributions to the hospitals. We developed a
  short online survey to measure user satisfaction
  and information impact. Six libraries implemented
  the survey in 2010 as a pilot program.

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Key Literature Support
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Abels EG, Cogdill KW, Zach L. Identifying and
communicating the contributions of library and
information services in hospitals and academic
health sciences centers. J Med Libr Assoc 2004
Jan92(1)46-55.
Survey Method
Who Patrons requesting literature searches or
asking other complex questions. When Patrons
are surveyed midmonth, following the month when
the request was received. How Patrons receive
an email with a link to SurveyMonkey. The email
stresses that the survey is short and anonymous
and helps track library outcomes.

• What The survey asks the following
• What is the patrons role in the organization?
• Why was the search request made?
• What cognitive value or knowledge did the
  request provide?
• Did the request lead to a change in practice?
• Did the request help in avoiding an adverse
  event?
• Did the request help in providing quality
  patient care?
• Was the provided information generally
  satisfactory?

Contact Information
Rebecca Bayrer, 650-742-2540 / rebecca.l.bayrer_at_kp
.org Suzanne Beattie, 916-474-7136 /
suzanne.m.beattie_at_kp.org Elizabeth Lucas,
408-851-2785 / elizabeth.x.lucas_at_kp.org Dawn
Melberg, 707-393-4526 / dawn.m.melberg_at_kp.org Eve
Melton, 209-735-4270 / eve.o.melton_at_kp.org